Isaiah 58
1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Cry aloud, do not spare, Like a horn, lift high thy voice, —And declare To my people, their transgression, and To the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that doeth righteousness, and hath not forsaken the ordinance of their God; they ask of me the ordinances of righteousness, they take delight in approaching to God:
Yet, me—day by day, do they seek, And in the knowledge of my ways, they delight, —Like a nation that had done righteousness, And the justice of their God, had not forsaken They ask of me the just regulations, In approaching God, they delight.
3 — Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not; have afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find what pleaseth [you], and exact all your labours.
Wherefore have we Fasted and thou hast not seen? Humbled our soul, and thou wouldst take no note? Lo! in the day of your fast, ye take pleasure, But all your toilers, ye drive on!
4 Behold, ye have fasted for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness; ye do not at present fast, to cause your voice to be heard on high.
Lo! for strife and contention, ye fast, And to smite with the fist of lawlessness, —Ye shall not fast as to-day, To cause to be heard on high your voice!
5 Is such the fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul, — that he should bow down his head as a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes [under him]? Wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to Jehovah?
Like this, shall the fast be that I choose, A day for the son of earth to humble his soul? Is it to bow down as a rush his head, And sackcloth and ashes, to spread out? Is it, this, thou wilt call a fast, Or a day of acceptance with Yahweh?
6 Is not this the fast which I have chosen: to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, and to send forth free the crushed, and that ye break every yoke?
Is not, this, the fast that I must ever choose—To unbind the tight cords of lawlessness, To unloose the bands of the yoke, —and To let the crushed go free, and That every yoke, ye tear off?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring to thy house the needy wanderers; when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Is it not to break unto the hungry, thy bread, And the thrust-out oppressed, that thou bring into a home, —When thou seest one naked, that thou cover him, And from thine own flesh, shalt not hide thyself?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the dawn, and thy health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee, the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rearguard.
Then, shall break forth, as the dawn, thy light, And thy new flesh shall speedily grow, —Then shall go before thee, thy righteousness, the glory of Yahweh shall bring up thy rear:
9 Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger and the unjust speech,
Then, shalt thou Call, and Yahweh, will answer, Cry out, and he will say, Behold me! If thou remove, out of thy midst the yoke, The pointing of the finger, and The speaking of iniquity;
10 and thou proffer thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in the darkness, and thine obscurity be as midday;
And shalt let thine own soul go out to the hungry, And the soul of the oppressed, thou shalt satisfy, Then shall break forth in darkness thy light, And thy thick darkness, become as the splendour of noon;
11 and Jehovah will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and strengthen thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a water-spring, whose waters deceive not.
Then will Yahweh guide thee continually, And will satisfy, [even] in scorched regions thine own soul, Yea thy very bones, will he invigorate, —So shall thou become like a garden well—watered, And like a spring of water whose waters do not deceive;
12 And they [that come] of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations [that have remained] from generation to generation; and thou shalt be called, Repairer of the breaches, restorer of frequented paths.
And they who come of thee shall build the wastes of age-past times, And as for the foundations of generation after generation, thou shalt rear them up, —So shalt thou be called—A Repairer of broken walls, A Restorer of paths leading home.
13 If thou turn back thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy [day] of Jehovah, honourable; and thou honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [idle] words;
If thou turn back. From the sabbath thy foot, From doing thine own pleasure on my holy day, —And shall call—The sabbath, An exquisite delight, The holy day of Yahweh, A day to be honoured, And so shall honour it rather—Than do thine own ways, Than take thine own pleasure or Than speak thine own word,
14 then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah, and I will cause thee to ride on the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.
Then, shalt thou rest thine own exquisite delight upon Yahweh, …And I will cause thee to ride over the high places of the land, —And will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father, For the mouth of Yahweh, hath spoken.
