Add parallel Print Page Options

58 “Cry aloud! Don’t spare!
    Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Declare to my people their disobedience,
    and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek me daily,
    and delight to know my ways.
As a nation that did righteousness,
    and didn’t forsake the ordinance of their God,
they ask of me righteous judgments.
    They delight to draw near to God.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see?
    Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’

“Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
    and oppress all your laborers.
Behold, you fast for strife and contention,
    and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
    You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the fast that I have chosen?
    A day for a man to humble his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself?
Will you call this a fast,
    and an acceptable day to Yahweh?

“Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen:
    to release the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
    to let the oppressed go free,
    and that you break every yoke?
Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry,
    and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house?
When you see the naked,
    that you cover him;
    and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light will break out as the morning,
    and your healing will appear quickly;
then your righteousness shall go before you,
    and Yahweh’s glory will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer.
    You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’

“If you take away from among you the yoke,
    finger pointing,
    and speaking wickedly;
10 and if you pour out your soul to the hungry,
    and satisfy the afflicted soul,
then your light will rise in darkness,
    and your obscurity will be as the noonday;
11 and Yahweh will guide you continually,
    satisfy your soul in dry places,
    and make your bones strong.
You will be like a watered garden,
    and like a spring of water
    whose waters don’t fail.
12 Those who will be of you will build the old waste places.
    You will raise up the foundations of many generations.
You will be called Repairer of the Breach,
    Restorer of Paths with Dwellings.

13 “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
    from doing your pleasure on my holy day;
and call the Sabbath a delight,
    and the holy of Yahweh honorable;
    and honor it,
    not doing your own ways,
    nor finding your own pleasure,
    nor speaking your own words,
14 then you will delight yourself in Yahweh,
    and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth,
    and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;”
    for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken it.

True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,(A) do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.(B)
Declare to my people their rebellion(C)
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.(D)
For day after day they seek(E) me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken(F) the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near(G) them.
‘Why have we fasted,’(H) they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled(I) ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’(J)

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please(K)
    and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,(L)
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard(M) on high.
Is this the kind of fast(N) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble(O) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed(P)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?(Q)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting(R) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice(S)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed(T) free
    and break every yoke?(U)
Is it not to share your food with the hungry(V)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter(W)
when you see the naked, to clothe(X) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?(Y)
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,(Z)
    and your healing(AA) will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a](AB) will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.(AC)
Then you will call,(AD) and the Lord will answer;(AE)
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger(AF) and malicious talk,(AG)
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,(AH)
then your light(AI) will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.(AJ)
11 The Lord will guide(AK) you always;
    he will satisfy your needs(AL) in a sun-scorched land(AM)
    and will strengthen(AN) your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,(AO)
    like a spring(AP) whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins(AQ)
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;(AR)
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,(AS)
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath(AT)
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight(AU)
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,(AV)
14 then you will find your joy(AW) in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights(AX) of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance(AY) of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(AZ)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One