Isaiah 58-60

New American Standard Bible 1995

58 “^(A)Cry loudly, 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 delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done ^(D)righteousness
And ^(E)has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight ^(F)in the nearness of God.
³ ‘Why have we ^(G)fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not ^[a]notice?’
Behold, on the ^(H)day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.
⁴ “Behold, you fast for contention and ^(I)strife 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 humble himself?
Is it for bowing ^[b]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 the Lord?
⁶ “Is this not the fast which I choose,
To ^(M)loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to ^(N)let the oppressed go free
And ^(O)break every yoke?
⁷ “Is it not to ^(P)divide your bread ^[c]with the hungry
And ^(Q)bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the ^(R)naked, to 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 the ^(W)Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ “Then you will ^(X)call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you ^(Y)remove the yoke from your midst,
The ^[d](Z)pointing of the finger and ^(AA)speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ And if you ^[e](AB)give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the ^[f]desire of the afflicted,
Then your ^(AC)light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
¹¹ “And the ^(AD)Lord will continually guide you,
And ^(AE)satisfy your ^[g]desire in scorched places,
And ^(AF)give strength to 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 ruins;
You will ^(AJ)raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the ^(AK)breach,
The restorer of the ^[i]streets in which to dwell.

¹³ “If because of the sabbath, you ^(AL)turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a ^(AM)delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your ^(AN)own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And ^(AO)speaking your own word,
¹⁴ Then you will take ^(AP)delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride ^(AQ)on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the ^(AR)mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

59 Behold, ^(AS)the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
^(AT)Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
² But your ^(AU)iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His ^[j]face from you so that He does ^(AV)not hear.
³ For your ^(AW)hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken ^(AX)falsehood,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
^4 (AY)No one sues righteously and ^(AZ)no one pleads ^[k]honestly.
They ^(BA)trust in confusion and speak lies;
They ^(BB)conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
⁵ They hatch adders’ eggs and ^(BC)weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.
⁶ Their webs will not become clothing,
Nor will they ^(BD)cover themselves with their works;
Their ^(BE)works are works of iniquity,
And an ^(BF)act of violence is in their ^[l]hands.
^7 (BG)Their feet run to evil,
And they hasten to shed innocent blood;
^(BH)Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
⁸ They do not know the ^(BI)way of peace,
And there is ^(BJ)no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
^(BK)Whoever treads on ^[m]them does not know peace.

⁹ Therefore ^(BL)justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us;
We ^(BM)hope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰ We ^(BN)grope along the wall like blind men,
We grope like those who have no eyes;
We ^(BO)stumble at midday as in the twilight,
Among those who are vigorous we are ^(BP)like dead men.
¹¹ All of us growl like bears,
And ^(BQ)moan sadly like doves;
We hope for ^(BR)justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.
¹² For our ^(BS)transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our ^(BT)sins ^[n]testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And ^[o]we know our iniquities:
¹³ Transgressing and ^(BU)denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking ^(BV)oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and ^(BW)uttering from the heart lying words.
^14 (BX)Justice is turned back,
And ^(BY)righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
¹⁵ Yes, truth is lacking;
And he who turns aside from evil ^(BZ)makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was ^[p]displeasing in His sight ^(CA)that there was no justice.
¹⁶ And He saw that there was ^(CB)no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His ^(CC)own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷ He put on ^(CD)righteousness like a breastplate,
And a ^(CE)helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on ^(CF)garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with ^(CG)zeal as a mantle.
^18 (CH)According to their ^[q]deeds, ^[r]so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will ^[s]make recompense.
¹⁹ So they will fear the name of the Lord from the ^(CI)west
And His glory from the ^(CJ)rising of the sun,
For He will ^(CK)come like a ^[t]rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
²⁰ “A ^(CL)Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who ^(CM)turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.

60 “^(CQ)Arise, shine; for your ^(CR)light has come,
And the ^(CS)glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
² “For behold, ^(CT)darkness will cover the earth
And deep darkness the peoples;
But the Lord will rise upon you
And His ^(CU)glory will appear upon you.
³ “^(CV)Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.