Isaiah 58:1-12

New King James Version

Fasting that Pleases God

58 “Cry aloud, ^[a]spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
^(A)Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.
²Yet they seek Me daily,
And delight to know My ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;
They take delight in approaching God.
³‘Why^(B) have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we ^(C)afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’

“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And ^[b]exploit all your laborers.
⁴^(D)Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
⁵Is ^(E)it a fast that I have chosen,
^(F)A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And ^(G)to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?

⁶“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To ^(H)loose the bonds of wickedness,
^(I)To undo the ^[c]heavy burdens,
^(J)To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
⁷Is it not ^(K)to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are ^[d]cast out;
^(L)When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from ^(M)your own flesh?
⁸^(N)Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
^(O)The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The ^[e]pointing of the finger, and ^(P)speaking wickedness,
¹⁰If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your ^[f]darkness shall be as the noonday.
¹¹The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
¹²Those from among you
^(Q)Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of ^[g]Streets to Dwell In.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 58:1 do not hold back
Isaiah 58:3 Lit. drive hard
Isaiah 58:6 Lit. bonds of the yoke
Isaiah 58:7 wandering
Isaiah 58:9 Lit. sending out of
Isaiah 58:10 Or gloom
Isaiah 58:12 Lit. Paths

Isaiah 61

New King James Version

The Good News of Salvation

61 “The ^(A)Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord ^(B)has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me ^(C)to ^[a]heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim ^(D)liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
²^(E)To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And ^(F)the day of vengeance of our God;
^(G)To comfort all who mourn,
³To ^[b]console those who mourn in Zion,
^(H)To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
^(I)The planting of the Lord, ^(J)that He may be glorified.”

⁴And they shall ^(K)rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
⁵^(L)Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
⁶^(M)But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
^(N)You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
⁷^(O)Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

⁸“For ^(P)I, the Lord, love justice;
^(Q)I hate robbery ^[c]for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
^(R)And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
⁹Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
^(S)That they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.”

¹⁰^(T)I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For ^(U)He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
^(V)As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause ^(W)righteousness and ^(X)praise to spring forth before all the nations.