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Isaiah 58
New English Translation

The Lord Desires Genuine Devotion

58 “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet!
Yell as loudly as a trumpet!
Confront my people with their rebellious deeds;[a]
confront Jacob’s family with their sin.[b]
2 They seek me day after day;
they want to know my requirements,[c]
like a nation that does what is right
and does not reject the law of their God.
They ask me for just decrees;
they want to be near God.
3 They lament,[d] ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?
Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’
Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires,[e]
you oppress your workers.[f]
4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by[g] arguments, brawls,
and fistfights.[h]
Do not fast as you do today,
trying to make your voice heard in heaven.
5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want?[i]
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves,[j]
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out[k] on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord?
6 No, this is the kind of fast I want:[l]
I want you[m] to remove the sinful chains,
to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,
to set free the oppressed,[n]
and to break every burdensome yoke.
7 I want you[o] to share your food with the hungry
and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people.[p]
When you see someone naked, clothe them!
Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood.[q]
8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise;[r]
your restoration will quickly arrive;[s]
your godly behavior[t] will go before you,
and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard.[u]
9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond;
you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’
You must[v] remove the burdensome yoke from among you
and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.
10 You must[w] actively help the hungry
and feed the oppressed.[x]
Then your light will dispel the darkness,[y]
and your darkness will be transformed into noonday.[z]
11 The Lord will continually lead you;
he will feed you even in parched regions.[aa]
He will give you renewed strength,[ab]
and you will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring that continually produces water.
12 Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt;[ac]
you will reestablish the ancient foundations.
You will be called, ‘The one who repairs broken walls,
the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’[ad]
13 You must[ae] observe the Sabbath[af]
rather than doing anything you please on my holy day.[ag]
You must look forward to the Sabbath[ah]
and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect.[ai]
You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,
and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals.[aj]
14 Then you will find joy in your relationship to the Lord,[ak]
and I will give you great prosperity,[al]
and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob.”[am]
Know for certain that the Lord has spoken.[an]

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:1 tn Heb “declare to my people their rebellion.”
  2. Isaiah 58:1 tn Heb “and to the house of Jacob their sin.” The verb “declare” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
  3. Isaiah 58:2 tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”
  4. Isaiah 58:3 tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  5. Isaiah 58:3 tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”
  6. Isaiah 58:3 tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.
  7. Isaiah 58:4 tn Heb “you fast for” (so NASB); NRSV “you fast only to quarrel.”
  8. Isaiah 58:4 tn Heb “and for striking with a sinful fist.”
  9. Isaiah 58:5 tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”
  10. Isaiah 58:5 tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  11. Isaiah 58:5 tn Or “making [their] bed.”
  12. Isaiah 58:6 tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  13. Isaiah 58:6 tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  14. Isaiah 58:6 tn Heb “crushed.”
  15. Isaiah 58:7 tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”
  16. Isaiah 58:7 tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (merudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.
  17. Isaiah 58:7 tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”
  18. Isaiah 58:8 tn Heb “will burst out like the dawn.” sn Light here symbolizes God’s favor and restored blessing, as the immediately following context makes clear.
  19. Isaiah 58:8 tn Heb “prosper”; KJV “spring forth speedily.”
  20. Isaiah 58:8 tn Or “righteousness.” Their godly behavior will be on display for all to see.
  21. Isaiah 58:8 sn The nation will experience God’s protective presence.
  22. Isaiah 58:9 tn Heb “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 9b-10 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (multiple “if” clauses here) appears in vv. 9b-10a, with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 10b.
  23. Isaiah 58:10 tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.
  24. Isaiah 58:10 tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”
  25. Isaiah 58:10 tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”
  26. Isaiah 58:10 tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”
  27. Isaiah 58:11 tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”
  28. Isaiah 58:11 tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”
  29. Isaiah 58:12 tn Heb “and they will build from you ancient ruins.”
  30. Isaiah 58:12 tc The Hebrew text has “the one who restores paths for dwelling.” The idea of “paths to dwell in” is not a common notion. Some have proposed emending נְתִיבוֹת (netivot, “paths”) to נְתִיצוֹת (netitsot, “ruins”), a passive participle from נָתַץ (natats, “tear down”; see HALOT 732 s.v. *נְתִיצָה), because tighter parallelism with the preceding line is achieved. However, none of the textual sources support this emendation. The line may mean that paths must be repaired in order to dwell in the land.
  31. Isaiah 58:13 tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (multiple “if” clauses here) appears in v. 13, with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.
  32. Isaiah 58:13 tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”
  33. Isaiah 58:13 tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”
  34. Isaiah 58:13 tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”
  35. Isaiah 58:13 tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).
  36. Isaiah 58:13 tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:29).
  37. Isaiah 58:14 tn For a parallel use of the phrase “find joy in” (Hitpael of עָנַג [ʿanag] followed by the preposition עַל [ʿal]), see Ps 37:4.
  38. Isaiah 58:14 tn Heb “and I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the land.” The statement seems to be an allusion to Deut 32:13, where it is associated, as here, with God’s abundant provision of food.
  39. Isaiah 58:14 tn Heb “and I will cause you to eat the inheritance of Jacob your father.” The Hebrew term נַחֲלָה (nakhalah) likely stands by metonymy for the crops that grow on Jacob’s “inheritance” (i.e., the land he inherited as a result of God’s promise).
  40. Isaiah 58:14 tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The introductory כִּי (ki) may be asseverative (as reflected in the translation) or causal/explanatory, explaining why the preceding promise will become reality (because it is guaranteed by the divine word).
Close LSB

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

  1. Isaiah 58:5 Lit his
  2. Isaiah 58:6 Lit the bar of the yoke
  3. Isaiah 58:6 Lit the bar of the yoke
  4. Isaiah 58:7 Lit for
  5. Isaiah 58:9 Lit bar of the yoke
  6. Isaiah 58:9 Lit sending out
  7. Isaiah 58:10 Lit furnish
  8. Isaiah 58:11 Or deceive
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