Isaiah 58:1-14
58 “Call out full-throated; do not hold back!
Raise your voice like a horn.
Proclaim to my people their revolt,+To the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day after day,And they express delight to know my ways,As if they were a nation that had practiced righteousnessAnd had not abandoned the justice of their God.+
They ask me for righteous judgments,Delighting to draw close to God:+
3 ‘Why do you not see when we fast?+
And why do you not notice when we afflict ourselves?’*+
Because on the day of your fast, you pursue your own interests,*And you oppress your laborers.+
4 Your fasting ends in quarrels and fights,And you strike with the fist of wickedness.
You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice heard in heaven.
5 Should the fast that I choose be like this,As a day for someone to afflict himself,*To bow down his head like a rush,To make his bed on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast and a day pleasing to Jehovah?
6 No, this is the fast that I choose:
To remove the fetters of wickedness,To untie the bands of the yoke bar,+To let the oppressed go free,+And to break in half every yoke bar;
7 It is to share your bread with the hungry,+To bring the poor and homeless into your house,To clothe someone naked when you see him,+And not to turn your back on your own flesh.
8 Then your light will shine through like the dawn,+And your healing will spring up quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,And the glory of Jehovah will be your rear guard.+
9 Then you will call, and Jehovah will answer;You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am!’
If you remove from among you the yoke barAnd stop pointing your finger and speaking maliciously,+
10 If you grant to the hungry what you yourself desire*+And satisfy those who are afflicted,*Then your light will shine even in the darkness,And your gloom will be like midday.+
11 Jehovah will always lead youAnd satisfy you* even in a parched land;+He will invigorate your bones,And you will become like a well-watered garden,+Like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account,+And you will restore the foundations of past generations.+
You will be called the repairer of the broken walls,*+The restorer of roadways by which to dwell.
13 If because of the Sabbath you refrain* from pursuing your own interests* on my holy day+And you call the Sabbath an exquisite delight, a holy day of Jehovah, a day to be glorified,+And you glorify it rather than pursuing your own interests and speaking idle words,
14 Then you will find your exquisite delight in Jehovah,And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth.+
I will cause you to eat from* the inheritance of Jacob your forefather,+For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.”
Footnotes
^ Or “our soul?”
^ Or “delight.”
^ Or “his soul.”
^ Or “the afflicted souls.”
^ Or “your own soul desires.”
^ Or “your soul.”
^ Lit., “the breach.”
^ Lit., “turn your foot back.”
^ Or “your own delights.”
^ Or “to enjoy.”