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
Reasons for Judgment#The prophet is commanded to condemn the formalism of the people, specifically their hypocritical fasting.
1Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Proclaim to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.#Lv 25:9.
2They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the judgment of their God;
They ask of me just judgments,
they desire to draw near to God.
3“Why do we fast, but you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, but you take no note?”
See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.#1 Sm 7:6; 1 Kgs 21:12; 1 Mc 3:47; Jl 1:1–2:17.
4See, you fast only to quarrel and fight
and to strike with a wicked fist!
Do not fast as you do today
to make your voice heard on high!
5Is this the manner of fasting I would choose,
a day to afflict oneself?
To bow one’s head like a reed,
and lie upon sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?#Zec 7:5.
Authentic Fasting That Leads to Blessing#Fasting is not genuine without reforming one’s way of life. A true social morality will ensure prosperity.
6Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?#Is 35:5–6.
7Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,
bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own flesh?#Ez 18:7, 16; Mt 25:35.
8Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the accusing finger, and malicious speech;#Am 5:7.
10If you lavish your food on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your gloom shall become like midday;
11Then the Lord will guide you always
and satisfy your thirst in parched places,
will give strength to your bones
And you shall be like a watered garden,
like a flowing spring whose waters never fail.#Is 51:3; Ps 24.
12Your people shall rebuild the ancient ruins;
the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;
“Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you,
“Restorer of ruined dwellings.”#Is 61:4.
Authentic Sabbath Observance That Leads to Blessing#Sabbath observance becomes a cornerstone of postexilic piety; cf. 56:2, 4, 6.
13If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
the Lord’s holy day glorious;
If you glorify it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs—
14Then you shall delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.#Hb 3:19.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc