Isaiah 58

1 [Yahweh said to me], “Shout loudly! Shout like [SIM] a loud trumpet! Shout to warn my Israeli people about their sins [DOU]!

“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;

2 They worship me every day; [they come to my temple because they say that] they are eager to know what I want them to do. They act as though they are a nation that does things that are righteous, who would never abandon their God. They request me to decide matters justly, and they delight to come to worship me.

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:

3 [They say], ‘We have (fasted/abstained from eating food) to please you, but you did not [RHQ] notice our doing that. We humbled ourselves, but you did not [RHQ] pay any attention!’ I will tell you why I did not pay attention. It is because when you fast, you do it only to please yourselves, and you act cruelly toward all your workers.

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.

4 You fast, but you also quarrel and fight [with each other] with your fists. [Doing things like that while] you fast will [certainly] not cause [me] to hear your prayers [where I am], high in heaven.

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.

5 You [act as though] [IRO] you humble yourselves [RHQ] by bowing your heads like [SIM] [the tops of] reeds bend [when the wind blows], and you wear [RHQ] rough clothes and cover your heads with ashes [like people do when they are grieving]. That is what you do when you are fasting, but do you really think [RHQ] that will please me?

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?

6 No, that is not the kind of fasting that I desire. What I really want [RHQ] is for you to free those who have been unjustly put in prison [DOU], and to encourage those who are (treated cruelly/oppressed); I want you to free those who have been oppressed in any way.

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?

7 I want you to [RHQ] share your food with those who are hungry and to allow those who have no houses to stay in your houses. Give clothes to those who do not have clothes, and do not hide from your relatives who need help from you.

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?

8 If you do those things, [what you do for others will be like] [SIM] a light that shines when it dawns. The troubles [that have been caused by your sins] will end quickly. Others will know about your righteous behavior, and with my glorious presence I will protect you from behind [like I protected the Israeli people when they left Egypt].

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.

9 Then you will call out to me, and I will [quickly] answer [and say that I will help you].’ Stop (oppressing people/treating people cruelly); stop falsely accusing people; and stop saying evil [things about people].

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,

10 Give food to those who are hungry, and give to people who are afflicted/suffering the things that they need. [Your doing that will be like] [MET] a light that shines in the darkness; instead of doing evil to people [MET], [the good things that you do for them will be like] [SIM] sunshine at noontime.

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.

11 [I], Yahweh, will guide you continually, and I will give you good things to satisfy you. I will enable you to remain strong and healthy. You will be like [SIM] a garden that is well watered, like [SIM] a spring that never dries up.

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.

12 [Your people] will rebuild the cities that were destroyed long ago; they will build [houses] on top of the old foundations. People will say that you are the ones who are repairing the holes [in the city walls], and who are repairing the streets where people live.

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.

13 Do not travel [MTY] long distances on Sabbath/rest days, and on Sabbath days do not do only the things that you delight to do. Enjoy the Sabbath days, and consider them to be delightful. The Sabbath days are my holy days. Honor me, Yahweh, in everything that you do [on the Sabbath days]. Do not talk about and do things [only] to please yourselves. If you do all the things that I have just now told you to do,

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.

14 I will enable you to be joyful. I will greatly honor you; [I will honor you everywhere!] I will give to you the [blessings] that I gave to your ancestor Jacob. [Those things will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”

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!”