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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.

False and True Worship

58 Shout out; do not hold back!
    Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.(A)
Yet day after day they seek me
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
    and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
    they want God on their side.[a](B)
“Why do we fast, but you do not see?
    Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
    and oppress all your workers.(C)
You fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
    will not make your voice heard on high.(D)
Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
    and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?(E)

Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?(F)
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?(G)
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator[b] shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.(H)
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”

If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,(I)
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be like the noonday.(J)
11 The Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your needs in parched places
    and make your bones strong,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water
    whose waters never fail.(K)
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to live in.(L)

13 If you refrain from trampling the Sabbath,
    from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
    serving your own interests or pursuing your own affairs;(M)
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
    and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(N)

Footnotes

  1. 58.2 Or they delight to draw near to God
  2. 58.8 Or vindication