Isaiah 58
1 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.
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.
2 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.
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.
3 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!
“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.
4 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!
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!
5 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?
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?
6 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?
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.
7 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?
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.
8 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:
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.
9 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;
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,
10 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;
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.
11 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;
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.
12 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.
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.
13 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,
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,
14 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.
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.
