Isaiah 58

1 “Call with the throat, do not restrain, lift up your voice as a horn, And declare to My people their transgression, And to the house of Jacob their sins;

Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up thy voice as with a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities.

2 They seek Me day by day, And they desire the knowledge of My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness, And has not forsaken the judgment of its God, They ask of Me judgments of righteousness, They desire the drawing near of God:

They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that had done righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgment of their God: they now ask of me righteous judgment, and desire to draw nigh to God,

3 Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? We have afflicted our soul, and You do not know. Behold, you find pleasure in the day of your fast, And exact all your laborers.

saying, Why have we fasted, and thou regardest not? [why] have we afflicted our souls, and thou didst not know it? Nay, in the days of your fasts ye find your pleasures, and all them that are under your power ye wound.

4 Behold, you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness, You do not fast as [this] day, To sound your voice in the high place.

If ye fast for quarrels and strifes, and smite the lowly with [your] fists, wherefore do ye fast to me as [ye do] this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying?

5 Is this like the fast that I choose? The day of a man’s afflicting his soul? To bow his head as a reed, And spread out sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, And a desirable day—to YHWH?

I have not chosen this fast, nor [such] a day for a man to afflict his soul; neither though thou shouldest bend down thy neck as a ring, and spread under thee sackcloth and ashes, neither thus shall ye call a fast acceptable.

6 Is this not the fast that I chose—To loose the bands of wickedness, To shake off the burdens of the yoke, And to send out the oppressed free, And draw off every yoke?

I have not chosen such a fast, saith the Lord; but do thou loose every burden of iniquity, do thou untie the knots of hard bargains, set the bruised free, and cancel every unjust account.

7 Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, And bring home the wandering poor, That you see the naked and cover him, And do not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Break thy bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to thy house: if thou seest one naked, clothe [him], and thou shalt not disregard the relations of thine own seed.

8 Then your light breaks forth as the dawn, And your health springs up in haste, Your righteousness has gone before you, The glory of YHWH gathers you.

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily spring forth: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall compass thee.

9 Then you call, and YHWH answers, You cry, and He says, Behold Me. If you turn aside the yoke from your midst, The sending forth of the finger, And the speaking of vanity,

Then shalt thou cry, and God shall hearken to thee; while thou art yet speaking he will say, Behold, I am here. If thou remove from thee the band, and the stretching forth of the hands, and murmuring speech;

10 And bring out your soul to the hungry, And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light has risen in the darkness, And your thick darkness [is] as noon.

and [if] thou give bread to the hungry from thy heart, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light spring up in darkness, and thy darkness [shall be] as noon-day:

11 And YHWH continually leads you, And has satisfied your soul in drought, And He arms your bones, And you have been as a watered garden, And as an outlet of waters, whose waters do not lie.

and thy God shall be with thee continually, and thou shalt be satisfied according as thy soul desires; and thy bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a well-watered garden, and as a fountain [from] which the water has not failed.

12 And they have built the ancient ruins from you, You raise up the foundations of many generations, And one calls you, Repairer of the breach, Restorer of paths to rest in.

And thy old waste desert [places] shall be built up, and thy foundations shall last through all generations; and thou shalt be called a repairer of breaches, and thou shalt cause thy paths between to be in peace.

13 If you turn your foot from the Sabbath, [From] doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And have cried to the Sabbath, A delight, To the holy of YHWH, Honored, And have honored it, without doing your own ways, Without finding your own pleasure, And speaking a word.

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, so as not to do thy pleasure on the holy days, and shalt call the sabbaths delightful, holy to God; [if] thou shalt not lift up thy foot to work, nor speak a word in anger out of thy mouth,

14 Then you delight yourself on YHWH, And I have caused you to ride on high places of earth, And have caused you to eat the inheritance of your father Jacob, For the mouth of YHWH has spoken!”

then shalt thou trust on the Lord; and he shall bring thee up to the good places of the land, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.