Isaiah 58

1 Give a roar from the throat! Don't hold back! Shout out like a trumpet! Announce to my people how rebellious they are; denounce to the descendants of Jacob their sins.

Cry aloud, spare not, Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, And show my people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins!

2 Every day they come to me, pleased to know my ways as if they were a nation that does what is right and follow the laws of their God! They ask me to treat them right; they like to be close to their God.

Yet they seek me daily, And desire to know my ways, As a nation that hath done righteousness, And hath not forsaken the ordinances of their God; They inquire of me concerning the judgments which bring salvation; They long for the coming of God.

3 “Didn't you see that we fasted?” they ask. “Didn't you notice how we denied ourselves?” That's because whenever you fast you still do whatever you want, and you treat your workers badly.

“Wherefore do we fast, and thou seest not? Wherefore do we afflict our souls, and thou dost not regard it?” Behold, in the day of your fasts ye pursue your pleasure, And exact all your labors.

4 Can't you see that when you're fasting you quarrel and argue, and end up having a vicious fist-fight? When you fast like this you can't expect your prayers to be heard on high!

Behold, ye fast in strife and contention, And smiting with the fist of wickedness. Ye do not fast now So that your voice shall be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I want when people act out their humility by bowing their heads down like a reed and by lying around in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day the Lord appreciates?

Is this the fast that I approve, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it that he should bow down his head like a bulrush, And lie down in sackcloth and ashes? Wilt thou call this a fast, And a day acceptable to Jehovah?

6 No, this is the fast I want: set free those who have been unjustly imprisoned, untie the cords of the yoke used to burden people, set free those who are oppressed, and get rid of every form of abuse.

Is not this the fast that I approve, —To loose the bands of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And to break in pieces every yoke?

7 Share your food with the hungry, take the poor and homeless into your house. When you see people naked, give them clothes, and don't reject your own relatives.

Is it not to break thy bread to the hungry, And to bring the poor, that are cast out, to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou clothe him, And that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

8 Then your light will shine out like the dawn, and you will be healed quickly; your salvation will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will go behind you.

Then shall thy light break forth like the morning, And thy health shall spring forth speedily; Thy salvation shall go before thee, And the glory of Jehovah shall bring up thy rear.

9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out for help, the Lord will say, “I'm here.” If you get rid of oppression among you, if you stop pointing the finger and slandering others,

Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Lo, here I am! If thou remove from the midst of thee the yoke, The pointing of the finger, and the injurious speech.

10 if you dedicate yourselves to helping the hungry and give the poor what they need, then your light will shine out in the darkness, and your night will be like the sun at noon.

If thou bring forth thy bread to the hungry, And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then in obscurity shall light arise to thee; Yea, thy darkness shall become as noonday;

11 The Lord will always lead you; he will give you all you need in you in a desolate land; he will make you strong again. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that never runs dry.

Jehovah shall lead thee continually, And satisfy thee in the time of drought, And strengthen thy bones; Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and a spring of water, Whose waters never fail.

12 Some among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore generations-old foundations. You will be called the Repairer of the Break in the Wall, the Restorer of Life's Pathways.

Thy people shall build the ancient desolations, The ruins of many generations shall they restore; Thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of ways for inhabitants.

13 If you make sure you don't break the Sabbath by doing whatever you please on my holy day, if you say the Sabbath brings you pleasure and the Lord's day is to be honored, and if you honor it by leaving aside your own ways, by not doing whatever you please, and by avoiding everyday chatting,

If thou restrain thy foot from the sabbath, From doing thy pleasure on my holy day, If thou shalt call the sabbath a delight, The holy day of Jehovah honorable, And shalt honor it by refraining from thy work, From doing thy pleasure, and speaking vain words,

14 then you'll find the Lord is the one who truly makes you happy, and I will give you high positions on the earth and give you what I promised to Jacob, your forefather. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah. And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, And cause thee to enjoy the inheritance of Jacob, thy father; For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.