Isaiah 58:1-5
Holman Christian Standard Bible
True Fasting
58 “Cry out loudly,[a] don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Tell My people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek Me day after day
and delight to know My ways,
like a nation that does what is right
and does not abandon the justice of their God.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God.”(A)
3 “Why have we fasted, but You have not seen?(B)
We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!”[b]
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.(C)
4 You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
5 Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?(D)
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 58:1 Lit with throat
- Isaiah 58:3 These are Israel’s words to God.
Isaiah 58:1-5
International Standard Version
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.
2 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.
3 ‘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.
4 “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.
5 “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?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 58:1 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT read rebellion
- Isaiah 58:2 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX; MT reads And they
- Isaiah 58:2 Lit. me day and day; so 1QIsaa; 1QIsab 4QIsad MT read me day, day
- Isaiah 58:3 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX MT lack they ask
- Isaiah 58:3 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab LXX; MT reads ourself
- Isaiah 58:3 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX MT lack they ask
- Isaiah 58:4 So 1QIsab 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack for
- Isaiah 58:5 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT LXX read and for lying
- Isaiah 58:5 So 1QIsaa 4QIsad LXX (pl.); 1QIsab MT (sing.)
- Isaiah 58:5 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT reads and an
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