Isaiah 58-59

New International Version

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)
²For 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.
³‘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.
⁴Your 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.
⁵Is 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?

⁶“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)
⁷Is 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)
⁸Then 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)
⁹Then 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)
¹⁰and 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)
¹¹The 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.
¹²Your 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)
¹⁴then 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)

Sin, Confession and Redemption

59 Surely the arm^(BA) of the Lord is not too short^(BB) to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.^(BC)
²But your iniquities have separated^(BD)
    you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.^(BE)
³For your hands are stained with blood,^(BF)
    your fingers with guilt.^(BG)
Your lips have spoken falsely,^(BH)
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.
⁴No one calls for justice;^(BI)
    no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely^(BJ) on empty arguments, they utter lies;^(BK)
    they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.^(BL)
⁵They hatch the eggs of vipers^(BM)
    and spin a spider’s web.^(BN)
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
    and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
⁶Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.^(BO)
Their deeds are evil deeds,
    and acts of violence^(BP) are in their hands.
⁷Their feet rush into sin;
    they are swift to shed innocent blood.^(BQ)
They pursue evil schemes;^(BR)
    acts of violence mark their ways.^(BS)
⁸The way of peace they do not know;^(BT)
    there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;^(BU)
    no one who walks along them will know peace.^(BV)

⁹So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;^(BW)
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
¹⁰Like the blind^(BX) we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble^(BY) as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.^(BZ)
¹¹We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.^(CA)
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹²For our offenses^(CB) are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify^(CC) against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:^(CD)
¹³rebellion^(CE) and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs^(CF) on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,^(CG)
    uttering lies^(CH) our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴So justice^(CI) is driven back,
    and righteousness^(CJ) stands at a distance;
truth^(CK) has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth^(CL) is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.^(CM)
¹⁶He saw that there was no one,^(CN)
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;^(CO)
so his own arm achieved salvation^(CP) for him,
    and his own righteousness^(CQ) sustained him.
¹⁷He put on righteousness as his breastplate,^(CR)
    and the helmet^(CS) of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments^(CT) of vengeance^(CU)
    and wrapped himself in zeal^(CV) as in a cloak.
¹⁸According to what they have done,
    so will he repay^(CW)
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands^(CX) their due.
¹⁹From the west,^(CY) people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun,^(CZ) they will revere his glory.^(DA)
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath^(DB) of the Lord drives along.^[b]

²⁰“The Redeemer^(DC) will come to Zion,^(DD)
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”^(DE)
declares the Lord.

²¹“As for me, this is my covenant^(DF) with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,^(DG) who is on you, will not depart from you,^(DH) and my words that I have put in your mouth^(DI) will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Footnotes

Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One
Isaiah 59:19 Or When enemies come in like a flood, / the Spirit of the Lord will put them to flight

Hebrews 10

New International Version

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The law is only a shadow^(A) of the good things^(B) that are coming—not the realities themselves.^(C) For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect^(D) those who draw near to worship.^(E) ²Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.^(F) ³But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.^(G) ⁴It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats^(H) to take away sins.^(I)

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world,^(J) he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;^(K)
⁶with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.
⁷Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll^(L)—
    I have come to do your will, my God.’”^[a]^(M)

⁸First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”^(N)—though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.”^(O) He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will, we have been made holy^(P) through the sacrifice of the body^(Q) of Jesus Christ once for all.^(R)

¹¹Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices,^(S) which can never take away sins.^(T) ¹²But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins,^(U) he sat down at the right hand of God,^(V) ¹³and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.^(W) ¹⁴For by one sacrifice he has made perfect^(X) forever those who are being made holy.^(Y)

¹⁵The Holy Spirit also testifies^(Z) to us about this. First he says:

¹⁶“This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”^[b]^(AA)

¹⁷Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”^[c]^(AB)

¹⁸And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

A Call to Persevere in Faith

¹⁹Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence^(AC) to enter the Most Holy Place^(AD) by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by a new and living way^(AE) opened for us through the curtain,^(AF) that is, his body, ²¹and since we have a great priest^(AG) over the house of God,^(AH) ²²let us draw near to God^(AI) with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings,^(AJ) having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience^(AK) and having our bodies washed with pure water.^(AL) ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope^(AM) we profess,^(AN) for he who promised is faithful.^(AO) ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,^(AP) ²⁵not giving up meeting together,^(AQ) as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another^(AR)—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.^(AS)

²⁶If we deliberately keep on sinning^(AT) after we have received the knowledge of the truth,^(AU) no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire^(AV) that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.^(AW) ²⁹How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God^(AX) underfoot,^(AY) who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant^(AZ) that sanctified them,^(BA) and who has insulted the Spirit^(BB) of grace?^(BC) ³⁰For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[d]^(BD) and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”^[e]^(BE) ³¹It is a dreadful thing^(BF) to fall into the hands^(BG) of the living God.^(BH)

³²Remember those earlier days after you had received the light,^(BI) when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.^(BJ) ³³Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution;^(BK) at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.^(BL) ³⁴You suffered along with those in prison^(BM) and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.^(BN) ³⁵So do not throw away your confidence;^(BO) it will be richly rewarded.