Isaiah 58
58
True and False Worship
1“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel#58:1 Hebrew Jacob. See note on 14:1. of their sins!
2Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
pretending they want to be near me.
3‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
and you don’t even notice it!’
“I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
you keep oppressing your workers.
4What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
will never get you anywhere with me.
5You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?
6“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
7Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
8“Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
9Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.
“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
10Feed the hungry,
and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
11The Lord will guide you continually,
giving you water when you are dry
and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like an ever-flowing spring.
12Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
and a restorer of homes.
13“Keep the Sabbath day holy.
Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,
but enjoy the Sabbath
and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.
Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,
and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.
14Then the Lord will be your delight.
I will give you great honor
and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
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Isaiah 58: NLT
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Isaiah 58
58
True Fasts and Sabbaths
1“Call with the throat; you must not keep back!
lift up your voice like a trumpet,
and declare#Or “announce” to my people their rebellion,
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2Yet#Or “And” they seek me day by day,
and they desire the knowledge of my ways
like a nation that practiced#Literally “did” righteousness,
and had not forsaken the judgment of its God;
they ask me for righteous judgments,#Literally “judgments of righteousness”
they desire the closeness of God.
3‘Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice it?’
Look! You find delight on the day of your fast,
and you oppress all your workers!
4Look! You fast to quarrel and strife,
and to strike with a wicked fist.#Literally “fist of wickedness”
You shall not fast as you do today,#Literally “the day”
to make your voice heard#Literally “cause to hear your voice” on the height.
5Is the fast I choose like this,
a day for humankind to humiliate himself#Literally “his soul”?
To bow his head like a reed,
and make#Literally “he makes” his bed on sackcloth and ashes;
you call this a fast
and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?
6Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
and to let the oppressed go free,
and tear#Literally “you must tear” every yoke to pieces?
7Is it not to break your bread for the hungry?
You must bring home#Literally “a house” the poor, the homeless.
When you see the naked, you must cover him,
and you must not hide yourself from your relatives.#Literally “flesh”
8Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall grow quickly.
And your salvation shall go before you;
the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard.
9Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer.
You shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am!’
If you remove from among you the yoke,
the finger-pointing#Literally “stretching out of the finger” and evil speech,#Literally “the speaking of evil”
10if#Or “and” you offer your soul to the hungry,
and you satisfy the appetite of the afflicted,
then#Or “and” your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your darkness will be like noon.
11And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land,
and he will strengthen your bones,
and you shall be like a well-watered garden,
and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.
12And they shall rebuild ancient ruins from you;
you shall erect the foundations of many generations,#Literally “generation and generation”
and you shall be called#Literally “shall be called to you” the bricklayer of the breach,
the restorer of paths to live in.
13If you hold your foot back from the Sabbath,
from doing your affairs on my holy day,#Literally “the day of my holiness”
if#Or “and” you call the Sabbath a pleasure,
the holy day of Yahweh honorable,
if#Literally “and” you honor him more than#Literally “from” doing your ways,
than finding your affairs#Hebrew “affair” and speaking a word,
14then you shall take your pleasure in#Or “on” Yahweh,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth,
and I will feed you the heritage of Jacob your ancestor,#Or “father”
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”
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