Isaiah 58
The LORD rebukes Israel's fasts as empty rituals done for show while they oppress their workers. The true fast is to loose the bonds of wickedness, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and take in the homeless poor. Then their light will break forth as the morning, and the LORD will guide them continually and satisfy their soul in drought.
| v | King James Version | Modern English |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Cry out loudly; do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Declare to My people their transgression and to 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. | Yet they seek Me daily and delight to know My ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinances of their God. They ask Me for just decisions; they delight in drawing near 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. | "Why have we fasted and You do not see?" they say. "Why have we humbled ourselves and You take no notice?" Look — on the day of your fasting you pursue your own pleasure and oppress all your workers. |
| 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. | You fast for strife and argument and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast as you do this day if you want 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? | Is this the fast I have chosen — a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow his head like a reed and to spread sackcloth and ashes? Will You call this a fast — a day acceptable 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? | Is this not the fast I have chosen: to break the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke — to set the oppressed free and to 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? | Is it not to share Your bread with the hungry and to bring the homeless poor into Your house — to cover the naked when You see them and not to turn away from Your own kin? |
| 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. | Then Your light shall break out like the dawn. Your healing shall spring up quickly. Your righteousness shall go before You; the glory of the LORD shall be Your rear guard. |
| 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; | Then You shall call, and the LORD will answer. You shall cry, and He will say, "Here I am." If You remove the yoke from Your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, |
| 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 noon day: | and if You pour Yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted — then Your light shall rise in the darkness, and Your gloom shall 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. | The LORD will guide You continually and satisfy Your soul in dry times and make Your bones strong. You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. |
| 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. | Your people shall build up the ancient ruins; You shall raise up the age-old foundations. You shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets 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: | If You turn back Your foot from the Sabbath — from doing Your pleasure on My holy day — and call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable; if You honor it by not going Your own ways or seeking Your own pleasure or speaking Your 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. | then You shall take delight in the LORD. I will make You ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed You with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken. |