True Fasting

58 “Cry out loudly,[a] don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Tell My people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek Me day after day
and delight to know My ways,
like a nation that does what is right
and does not abandon the justice of their God.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God.”(A)
“Why have we fasted, but You have not seen?(B)
We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!”[b]
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.(C)
You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?(D)
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:1 Lit with throat
  2. Isaiah 58:3 These are Israel’s words to God.

False and True Worship

58 “Shout aloud!
    Don’t hold back!
        Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Declare to my people their rebellions,[a]
    and to the house of Jacob their sins.
They[b] seek me day after day,[c]
    and are eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practices righteousness
    and has not forsaken the justice of their God.

“They ask me to reveal just decisions;
    they are eager to draw near to God.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they ask,[d]
    ‘but you do not see?
‘Why have we humbled ourselves,’[e] they ask,[f]
    ‘but you take no notice?’”

Fasting that God Approves

“Look! On your fast day you serve your own interest
    and oppress all your workers.

“Look! You fast only for quarreling, and for[g] fighting,
    and for hitting with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and have your voice heard on high.

“Is this the kind of fast that I have chosen,
    merely a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it merely for bowing down one’s head like a bulrush,
    for lying[h] on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you[i] call a fast,
    an[j] acceptable day to the Lord?

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:1 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT read rebellion
  2. Isaiah 58:2 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX; MT reads And they
  3. Isaiah 58:2 Lit. me day and day; so 1QIsaa; 1QIsab 4QIsad MT read me day, day
  4. Isaiah 58:3 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX MT lack they ask
  5. Isaiah 58:3 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab LXX; MT reads ourself
  6. Isaiah 58:3 1QIsaa 1QIsab 4QIsad LXX MT lack they ask
  7. Isaiah 58:4 So 1QIsab 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack for
  8. Isaiah 58:5 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT LXX read and for lying
  9. Isaiah 58:5 So 1QIsaa 4QIsad LXX (pl.); 1QIsab MT (sing.)
  10. Isaiah 58:5 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT reads and an