Add parallel Print Page Options

False and True Worship

58 Shout out; do not hold back!
    Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.(A)
Yet day after day they seek me
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
    and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
    they want God on their side.[a](B)
“Why do we fast, but you do not see?
    Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
    and oppress all your workers.(C)
You fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
    will not make your voice heard on high.(D)
Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
    and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?(E)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 58.2 Or they delight to draw near 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?

Read full chapter

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