Isaiah 58
58
True Fasting
1“Cry out loudly, # Lit with throat don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
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! ” # 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 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 # Lit not hide yourself from your own flesh and blood? # 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, # Lit yoke from your midst
the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, # Pr 6:13
10and if you offer yourself # 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 waters never run 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; # Lit foundations generation and generation # 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 # Lit keep your foot from 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 too much; # Lit or speak a word
14then you will delight yourself 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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Isaiah 58: HCSB
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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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