Isaiah 58
58
1Give a roar from the throat! Don't hold back! Shout out like a trumpet! Announce to my people how rebellious they are; denounce to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 2Every day they come to me, pleased to know my ways as if they were a nation that does what is right and follows the laws of their God! They ask me to treat them right; they like to be close to their God.
3“Didn't you see that we fasted?” they ask. “Didn't you notice how we denied ourselves?”
That's because whenever you fast you still do whatever you want, and you treat your workers badly. 4Can't you see that when you're fasting you quarrel and argue, and end up having a vicious fistfight? When you fast like this you can't expect your prayers to be heard on high! 5Is this the kind of fast I want when people act out their humility by bowing their heads down like a reed and by lying around in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day the Lord appreciates? 6No, this is the fast I want: set free those who have been unjustly imprisoned, untie the cords of the yoke used to burden people, set free those who are oppressed, and get rid of every form of abuse. 7Share your food with the hungry, take the poor and homeless into your house. When you see people naked, give them clothes, and don't reject your own relatives.
8Then your light#58:8. Israel was meant to be a light to the world. will shine out like the dawn, and you will be healed quickly; your salvation will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will go behind you. 9Then when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out for help, the Lord will say, “I'm here.” If you get rid of oppression among you, if you stop pointing the finger and slandering others, 10if you dedicate yourselves to helping the hungry and give the poor what they need, then your light will shine out in the darkness, and your night will be like the sun at noon. 11The Lord will always lead you; he will give you all you need in you in a desolate land; he will make you strong again. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that never runs dry. 12Some among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore generations-old foundations. You will be called the Repairer of the Break in the Wall, the Restorer of Life's Pathways.
13If you make sure you don't break#58:13. “If you make sure you don't break,” literally, “If you keep your foot from.” the Sabbath by doing whatever you please on my holy day, if you say the Sabbath brings you pleasure and the Lord's day is to be honored, and if you honor it by leaving aside your own ways, by not doing whatever you please, and by avoiding chatting about ordinary things,#58:13. “chatting about ordinary things”: the Hebrew is literally “the speaking of a word,” but clearly this does not mean that nothing at all is to be said on the Sabbath, as this would preclude worship services. What seems to be the concept is that conversation of little value is to be avoided. 14then you'll find the Lord is the one who truly makes you happy, and I will give you high positions on the earth and give you what I promised to Jacob, your forefather. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 58
58
True Fasting
1“Cry out loudly, don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a ram’s horn.
Tell my people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
2They 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.”#Ps 119:151; Is 29:13; 57:3; Jms 4:8
3“Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?#Mal 3:14; Lk 18:12
We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” #58:3 These are Israel’s words to God.
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.#Is 22:12–13; Zch 7:5–6
4You 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.
5Will 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?#Est 4:3; Dn 9:3
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6Isn’t this the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,#Jb 36:8; Ps 107:10; Ec 7:26
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?#Neh 5:10–12; Is 58:9; Jr 34:8
7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,#Jb 31:19–20; Is 58:10; Ezk 18:7,16
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,#Mt 25:35–36; Lk 3:11
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?#58:7 Lit not hide yourself from your flesh#Dt 22:1–4; Lk 10:31–32
8Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.#Is 30:26; 33:24; Jr 30:17; 33:6
Your righteousness will go before you,#Ps 85:13; Is 62:1
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.#Ex 14:19; Is 52:12
9At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;#Ps 50:15; Is 55:6; 65:24
when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you get rid of the yoke among you,
the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,#Pr 6:13
10and if you offer yourself#58:10 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr read offer your bread to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,#Jb 11:17; Ps 37:6; Is 42:16; 58:8
and your night will be like noonday.
11The Lord will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden#Sg 4:15; Is 27:3; Jr 31:12
and like a spring whose water never runs dry.#Jn 4:14; 7:38
12Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;#Ezr 6:14; Neh 4:6; Is 49:8; 61:4; Ezk 36:10
you will restore the foundations laid long ago;#1Kg 6:37; Ezr 3:10–12
you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
the restorer of streets where people live.
13“If you keep from desecrating the Sabbath,#Ex 31:16–17; 35:2–3; Is 56:2–6; Jr 17:21–27
from doing whatever you want on my holy day;
if you call the Sabbath a delight,
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,#Is 55:8
seeking your own pleasure, or talking business;#58:13 Or idly#58:13 Lit or speak a word
14then you will delight in the Lord,#Jb 22:26; Ps 37:4
and I will make you ride over the heights of the land,#Dt 32:13; 33:29; Is 33:16; Hab 3:19
and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.#Is 1:20; 40:5
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