Isaiah 58
58
LVIII
1Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up thy voice like a trumpet;
And declare unto my people their transgression,
And to the house of Jacob their sin.
2Yet they seek me daily,
And delight to know my ways;
As a nation that did righteousness,
And had not forsaken the ordinance of their God:
They ask of me righteous ordinances,
They take delight in approaching to God.
3Wherefore we have fasted, say they, and thou seest not?
Have afflicted our souls, and thou dost not regard?
Behold I in the day of your fasting ye find pleasure,
And exact all your tasks of labour.
4Behold! ye fast for strife and contention,
And to smite with the fist of wickedness;
Ye fast not as this day,
So as to cause your voice to be heard on high.
5Is it such a fast that I have chosen?
A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it that he should bow down his head like a bulrush,
And spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Wilt thou call this a fast,
And a day acceptable to Jehovah?
6Is not this the fast that I have chosen?
To loose the fetters of wickedness,
To untie the bands of the yoke;
And to let the oppressed go free,
And that ye should break asunder every yoke?
7Is it not to distribute thy bread to the hungry,
And to bring the poor that are persecuted into thy house?
When thou seest the naked, that thou clothe him,
And that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8Then shall thy light break forth as the dawn,
And thine health shall spring forth speedily;
And thy righteousness shall go before thee,
And the glory of Jehovah shall bring up thy rear.
9Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah shall answer;
Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Behold me!
If thou remove from the midst of thee the yoke,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
And satisfy the afflicted soul;
Then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
And thy darkness be as the noon-day.
11And Jehovah shall guide thee continually,
And satisfy thy soul in drought;
And strengthen thy bones:
And thou shalt be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12And they that spring from thee shall build the old waste places,
The foundations of many generations shalt thou raise up;
And thou shalt be called, The Repairer of the breach;
The Restorer of paths to dwell in.
13If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath,
From doing thy pleasure on my holy day;
And call the sabbath a delight,
The holy of Jehovah, honourable;
And shalt honour it, not doing thine own ways,
Nor seeking thine own pleasure, nor using idle talk;
14Then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah;
And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
And feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father:
For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.
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Isaiah 58: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 58
58
True and False Fasting
1“Cry aloud; do not hold back;
#
Lev. 25:9; [Joel 2:1] lift up your voice like a trumpet;
#
Mic. 3:8
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 # [ch. 1:11; 29:13; Zech. 7:5, 6] Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
3 # [Mal. 3:14] ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,#58:3 Or pursue your own business
# [ch. 60:17]; See Neh. 5:1-8 and oppress all your workers.
4Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 #
Zech. 7:5 Is such the fast that I choose,
#
Lev. 16:29
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6“Is not this the fast that I choose:
# See Neh. 5:10-12 to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps #ver. 9of the yoke,
to let the oppressed#58:6 Or bruised go free,
and to break every yoke?
7Is it not #ver. 10; Ezek. 18:7; [Matt. 25:35] to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
#
Neh. 5:5
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 # [Job 11:17] Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
#
Jer. 30:17 and your healing shall spring up speedily;
#
Ps. 85:13 your righteousness shall go before you;
# [ch. 52:12] 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 #ver. 6 the yoke from your midst,
#
Prov. 6:13
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 # ver. 7, 8 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
# [See ver. 8 above] 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 in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be #Jer. 31:12like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
12 # ch. 61:4; 65:21; [Ezra 6:14; Neh. 4:6] And 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 # ch. 56:2; See Neh. 13:15-21 “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 #ver. 3your own pleasure,#58:13 Or pursuing your own business or talking idly;#58:13 Hebrew or speaking a word
14then you shall take delight in the Lord,
#
Deut. 32:13 and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;#58:14 Or of the land
#
Jer. 50:19 I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
# ch. 1:20 for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
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