Isaiah 58
Legacy Standard Bible
Fasting as Yahweh Chooses
58 “(A)Call out from your throat, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their (B)transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they (C)seek Me day by day and find pleasure in knowing My ways,
As a nation that has done (D)righteousness
And (E)has not forsaken the judgment of their God.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
They find pleasure in (F)the nearness of God.
3 ‘Why have we (G)fasted and You do not see?
Why have we afflicted our souls and You do not know?’
Behold, on the (H)day of your fast you find your desire,
And oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast for contention and (I)quarreling and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to (J)make your voice heard on high.
5 Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to afflict himself?
Is it for bowing [a]one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out (K)sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an (L)acceptable day to Yahweh?
6 Is this not the fast which I choose,
To (M)loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To release the bands of [b]the yoke,
And to (N)let the oppressed go free
And (O)break every [c]yoke?
7 Is it not to (P)divide your bread [d]with the hungry
And (Q)bring the afflicted homeless into the house;
When you see the (R)naked, you cover him;
And not to (S)hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your (T)light will break out like the dawn,
And your (U)recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your (V)righteousness will go before you;
The glory of (W)Yahweh will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will (X)call, and Yahweh will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you (Y)remove the [e]yoke from your midst,
The [f](Z)pointing of the finger and (AA)speaking wickedness,
10 And if you [g](AB)offer your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the soul of the afflicted,
Then your (AC)light will rise in darkness
And your thick darkness will become like midday.
11 And (AD)Yahweh will continually guide you,
And (AE)satisfy your soul in scorched places,
And (AF)fortify your bones;
And you will be like a (AG)watered garden,
And like a (AH)spring of water whose waters do not [h]fail.
12 Those from among you will (AI)rebuild the ancient waste places;
You will (AJ)raise up the foundations of past generation upon generation;
And you will be called the repairer of the (AK)breach,
The restorer of the paths for one to inhabit.
Keeping the Sabbath
13 “If because of the sabbath, you (AL)turn your foot
From doing your own desire on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a (AM)delight, the holy day of Yahweh honorable,
And honor it, by not doing your (AN)own ways,
By not finding your own desire
And (AO)speaking your own word,
14 Then you will take (AP)delight in Yahweh,
And I will make you ride (AQ)on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father,
For the (AR)mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 58:5 Lit his
- Isaiah 58:6 Lit the bar of the yoke
- Isaiah 58:6 Lit the bar of the yoke
- Isaiah 58:7 Lit for
- Isaiah 58:9 Lit bar of the yoke
- Isaiah 58:9 Lit sending out
- Isaiah 58:10 Lit furnish
- Isaiah 58:11 Or deceive
Isaiah 58
Common English Bible
Fasting from injustice
58 Shout loudly; don’t hold back;
raise your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their crime,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day after day,
desiring knowledge of my ways
like a nation that acted righteously,
that didn’t abandon their God.
They ask me for righteous judgments,
wanting to be close to God.
3 “Why do we fast and you don’t see;
why afflict ourselves and you don’t notice?”
Yet on your fast day you do whatever you want,
and oppress all your workers.
4 You quarrel and brawl, and then you fast;
you hit each other violently with your fists.
You shouldn’t fast as you are doing today
if you want to make your voice heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I choose,
a day of self-affliction,
of bending one’s head like a reed
and of lying down in mourning clothing and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t this the fast I choose:
releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,
setting free the mistreated,
and breaking every yoke?
7 Isn’t it sharing your bread with the hungry
and bringing the homeless poor into your house,
covering the naked when you see them,
and not hiding from your own family?
8 Then your light will break out like the dawn,
and you will be healed quickly.
Your own righteousness will walk before you,
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and God will say, “I’m here.”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the finger-pointing, the wicked speech;
10 if you open your heart to the hungry,
and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted,
your light will shine in the darkness,
and your gloom will be like the noon.
11 The Lord will guide you continually
and provide for you, even in parched places.
He will rescue your bones.
You will be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water that won’t run dry.
12 They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account;
the foundations of generations past you will restore.
You will be called Mender of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Livable Streets.
13 If you stop trampling the Sabbath,
stop doing whatever you want on my holy day,
and consider the Sabbath a delight,
sacred to the Lord, honored,
and honor it instead of doing things your way,
seeking what you want and doing business as usual,
14 then you will take delight in the Lord.
I will let you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will sustain you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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