Isaiah 58

1 “Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”

3 “Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.

4 You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high.

5 Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?

6 Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?

7 Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

11 The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.

13 If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,

14 then you will delight yourself in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

1 ¶ Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

3 ¶ Wherefore have we fasted, [say they], and thou seest not? [wherefore] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as [ye do this] day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? [is it] to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes [under him]? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

6 [Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

7 [Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

8 ¶ Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I [am]. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

10 And [if] thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness [be] as the noonday:

11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

12 And [they that shall be] of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

13 ¶ If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words:

14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].

1 Shout confidently, spare not! Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sin.

2 They seek me daily, and desire to know my ways, as a people that have done righteousness, and have not forsaken the judgment of their God. They claim me rightly and want to be right with their God.

3 Why do we fast, and thou seest it not? Why do we afflict our bodies, and thou wilt not know it? Behold, when ye fast, ye do your will, and cast out all your trespassers.

4 Behold, ye fast to quarrel, and wrangle, and smite ungodly with your fists. Fast not so as ye do now, that a shout be heard from you on high.

5 Is this a fast that I should choose, that a man should do evil to his body by day, or hang his head like a reed, or lie on sackcloth and in ashes? Will ye call this fasting, and one day acceptable unto the LORD?

6 Now this is a fast which I choose: Loose those whom thou hast bound with iniquity; Release those whom thou hast burdened; Release those whom thou hast urged; Take away every burden;

7 Break thy bread to the hungry, and bring into the house them that are in misery: if thou seest any naked, clothe him, and be not deprived of thy flesh.

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the dawn, and thy correction shall speedily increase, and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the LORD shall take thee.

9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer thee: and when thou shalt cry, he shall say, Behold, here am I. If thou wilt not afflict any man with thee, neither wilt thou point fingers, nor speak evil,

10 And thou shalt let the hungry find thy heart, and satisfy the wretched soul: thy light shall be for darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noonday;

11 And the LORD shall guide thee for ever, and satisfy thy soul in the drought, and strengthen thy bones: and thou shalt be as a watered garden, and as a fountain of waters, which never lacketh water.

12 And by thee shall be built that which was long waste, and thou shalt lay the foundation thereof, which shall remain for ever: and thou shalt be called He that fenceth the gaps, and mendeth the ways, that they may dwell there.

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath day, and do not that which is pleasing in thy sight on my holy day, it shall be a merry sabbath to hallow the LORD, and to praise him. For so shalt thou praise him, if thou do not thy ways, nor be found in them that please thee, or that speak thou.

14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD, and I will cause thee to soar upon the high places of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD saith.