Isaiah 58
58
True religion
1Shout the message!
Don't hold back.
Say to my people Israel:
You've sinned! You've turned
against the LORD.
2Day after day, you worship him
and seem eager to learn
his teachings.
You act like a nation
that wants to do right
by obeying his laws.
You ask him about justice,
and say you enjoy
worshipping the LORD.
3You wonder why the LORD
pays no attention
when you go without eating
and act humble.
But on those same days
that you give up eating,
you think only of yourselves#58.3 you think…yourselves: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and abuse your workers.
4You even get angry
and ready to fight.
No wonder God won't listen
to your prayers!
5Do you think the LORD
wants you to give up eating
and to act as humble
as a bent over bush?
Or to dress in sackcloth
and sit in ashes?
Is this really what he wants
on a day of worship?
6I'll tell you
what it really means
to worship the LORD.
Remove the chains of prisoners
who are chained unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
7Share your food with everyone#Mt 25.34.
who is hungry;
share your home
with the poor and homeless.
Give clothes to those in need;
don't turn away your relatives.
8Then your light will shine
like the dawning sun, and you
will quickly be healed.
Your honesty#58.8 honesty: Or “honest leader”. will protect you
as you advance,
and the glory of the LORD
will defend you from behind.
9When you beg the LORD for help,
he will answer, “Here I am!”
Don't ill-treat others
or falsely accuse them
or say something cruel.
10Give your food to the hungry
and care for the homeless.
Then your light will shine
in the dark;
your darkest hour will be
like the noonday sun.
11The LORD will always guide you
and provide good things to eat
when you are in the desert.
He will make you healthy.
You will be like a garden
that has plenty of water
or like a stream
that never runs dry.
12You will rebuild those houses
left in ruins for years;
you will be known
as a builder and repairer
of city walls and streets.
13But first, you must start
respecting the Sabbath
as a joyful day of worship.
You must stop doing and saying
whatever you please
on this special day.
14Then you will truly enjoy
knowing the LORD.
He will let you rule
from the highest mountains
and bless you with the land
of your ancestor Jacob.
The LORD has spoken!
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Isaiah 58: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Isaiah 58
58
1“Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
3‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,#58.3 Or pursue your own business
and oppress all your workers.
4Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a rush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 #
Acts 8.23. “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.
“If you take away from the midst of you the yoke,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11And the Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your desire with good things,#58.11 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters fail not.
12And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
13“If you turn back your foot from the sabbath,
from doing your pleasure#58.13 Or business on my holy day,
and call the sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure,#58.13 Or pursuing your own business or talking idly;
14then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America