Isaiah 58:1-5
Expanded Bible
How to Honor God
58 The Lord says, “Shout out loud. Don’t hold back.
·Shout out loud [L Raise/lift up your voice] like a trumpet.
Tell my people ·what they have done against their God [their transgression];
tell ·the family of Jacob about [L Jacob] their sins.
2 They ·still come looking for [seek] me ·every day [day to day]
and ·want [delight] to learn my ways.
They act just like a nation that does ·what is right [righteousness],
that ·obeys [L did not forsake/reject] the ·commands [judgments] of its God.
They ask me ·to judge them fairly [for righteous judgment].
They ·want [delight] to ·be near [draw near to] God.
3 They say, ‘·To honor you we had special days when [L Why have…?] we fasted,
but you didn’t see.
·We humbled ourselves to honor you [L Why have we afflicted our souls/selves…?],
but you didn’t notice.’”
But the Lord says, “[L Look; T Behold] You ·do what pleases [satisfy; seek pleasure for] yourselves on these fast days,
and you ·are unfair to [exploit; oppress] your workers.
4 Even when you fast, you argue and fight
and ·hit each other with your [L hit with wicked/sinful] fists.
You cannot do these things as you do now
and ·believe your prayers are [expect to be] heard ·in heaven [on high].
5 ·This kind of special day is not what [Is this the fast that…?] I ·want [have chosen].
·This is not the way I want people to be sorry for what they have done [L Do I want a day when people afflict/mortify themselves?].
I don’t want people just to bow their heads like a ·plant [reed]
·and wear rough cloth and lie in ashes to show their sadness [L stretching out on sackcloth and ashes].
Is this what you call a fast?
·Do you really think this pleases [L …a day acceptable to] the Lord?
Isaiah 58:1-5
New American Standard Bible
Observances of Fasts
58 “(A)Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their (B)wrongdoing,
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 oppress 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 have done today to (J)make your voice heard on high!
5 Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person 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?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 58:3 Lit know
- Isaiah 58:5 Lit his
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
