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
worshiping 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 bound unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
7 #
Mt 25.34. Share your food with everyone
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 mistreat 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: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 58
58
Observances of Fasts
1“Cry aloud, do not hold back;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
2Yet they seek Me day by day and delight [superficially] to know My ways,
As [if they were in reality] a nation that has done righteousness
And has not abandoned (turned away from) the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me righteous judgments,
They delight in the nearness of God.
3‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You do not see it?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Hear this [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins] you find something you desire [to do],
And you force your hired servants to work [instead of stopping all work, as the law teaches].
4The facts are that you fast only for strife and brawling and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You do not fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high.
5Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself [with sorrow in his soul]?
Is it only to bow down his head like a reed
And to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed [pretending to have a repentant heart]?
Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?
6[Rather] is this not the fast which I choose,
To undo the bonds of wickedness,
To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free
And break apart every [enslaving] yoke?
7Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not to hide yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?
8Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your healing (restoration, new life) will quickly spring forth;
Your righteousness will go before you [leading you to peace and prosperity],
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away from your midst the yoke [of oppression],
The finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and [every form of] wicked (sinful, unjust) speech,
10And if you offer yourself to [assist] the hungry
And satisfy the #Lit soul.need of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
11And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations [of buildings that have been laid waste];
You will be called Repairer of the Breach,
Restorer of Streets #Lit to dwell.with Dwellings.
Keeping the Sabbath
13“If you turn back your foot from [#The ancient rabbis established strict limits for travel on the Sabbath, excepting unintentional violations and religious errands. This verse became a rabbinic proof text to rule on whether a person who had put one foot beyond the Sabbath limit for his city could reenter the city. But the Hebrew text may not refer to travel at all; turn back your foot from the Sabbath can be interpreted as an idiom referring to keeping oneself from violating the Sabbath in other ways.unnecessary travel on] the Sabbath,
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a [spiritual] delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, not going your own way
Or #Lit finding.engaging in your own pleasure
Or speaking your own [idle] words,
14Then you will take pleasure in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth,
And I will feed you with the [promised] heritage of Jacob your father;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
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