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False and True Worship

58 “Shout aloud!
    Don’t hold back!
        Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Declare to my people their rebellions,[a]
    and to the house of Jacob their sins.
They[b] seek me day after day,[c]
    and are eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practices righteousness
    and has not forsaken the justice of their God.

“They ask me to reveal just decisions;
    they are eager to draw near to God.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they ask,[d]
    ‘but you do not see?
‘Why have we humbled ourselves,’[e] they ask,[f]
    ‘but you take no notice?’”

Fasting that God Approves

“Look! On your fast day you serve your own interest
    and oppress all your workers.

“Look! You fast only for quarreling, and for[g] fighting,
    and for hitting with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and have your voice heard on high.

“Is this the kind of fast that I have chosen,
    merely a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it merely for bowing down one’s head like a bulrush,
    for lying[h] on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you[i] call a fast,
    an[j] acceptable day to the Lord?
Isn’t this the[k] fast that[l] I have been choosing:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
and[m] to untie the cords of the yoke,
    and[n] to let the oppressed go free,
        and to break every yoke?
Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry,
    and to bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked,
    to cover him with clothing,[o]
        and not to raise yourself up[p] from your own flesh and blood?”

God’s Reward

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will spring up quickly;
and your vindication will go before you,
    and[q] the glory of the Lord will guard your back.
Then you’ll call,
    and the Lord will answer;
you’ll cry for help,
    and he’ll respond, ‘Here I am.’

“If you do away with the yoke among you,
    and[r] pointing fingers and malicious talk;
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of afflicted souls,
then your light will rise in darkness,
    and your night will be like noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually,
    and satisfy your soul in parched places,[s]
        and they[t] will strengthen your bones;
and you’ll be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
        whose waters never fail.
12 And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;
    You’ll raise up the age-old foundations,[u]
and people will call you[v] ‘Repairer of Broken Walls,’
    ‘Restorer of Streets to Live In.’

13 “If you keep your feet from trampling the Sabbath,
    from[w] pursuing your own interests on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and[x] the Lord’s holy day honorable;
and if you honor it by not going your own ways[y]
    and[z] seeking your own pleasure or speaking merely idle[aa] words,
14 then you will take delight in the Lord,
    and he[ab] will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
and he[ac] will make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob, your father.

“Yes! The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:1 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT read rebellion
  2. Isaiah 58:2 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX; MT reads And they
  3. Isaiah 58:2 Lit. me day and day; so 1QIsaa; 1QIsab 4QIsad MT read me day, day
  4. Isaiah 58:3 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX MT lack they ask
  5. Isaiah 58:3 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab LXX; MT reads ourself
  6. Isaiah 58:3 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX MT lack they ask
  7. Isaiah 58:4 So 1QIsab 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack for
  8. Isaiah 58:5 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT LXX read and for lying
  9. Isaiah 58:5 So 1QIsaa 4QIsad LXX (pl.); 1QIsab MT (sing.)
  10. Isaiah 58:5 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT reads and an
  11. Isaiah 58:6 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX lack the
  12. Isaiah 58:6 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX lack that
  13. Isaiah 58:6 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX lack and
  14. Isaiah 58:6 So 1QIsaa MT; 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX lack and
  15. Isaiah 58:7 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX lack with clothing
  16. Isaiah 58:7 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT read to hide yourself; LXX reads to disregard
  17. Isaiah 58:8 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab LXX; MT lacks and
  18. Isaiah 58:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT lack and
  19. Isaiah 58:11 1QIsaa spells the word places incorrectly
  20. Isaiah 58:11 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT reads he; LXX reads and your bones will be strengthened
  21. Isaiah 58:12 Lit. the foundations of many generations
  22. Isaiah 58:12 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read you will be called
  23. Isaiah 58:13 So 1QIsaa 4QIsan; 1QIsab MT lack from
  24. Isaiah 58:13 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsan; MT LXX lack and
  25. Isaiah 58:13 So 1QIsaa 4QIsan MT; 1QIsab reads way
  26. Isaiah 58:13 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT lack and
  27. Isaiah 58:13 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsan MT LXX lack merely idle
  28. Isaiah 58:14 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsan LXX; MT reads and I
  29. Isaiah 58:14 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab 4QIsan MT read and I