Isaiah 58
True Fasts and Sabbaths
Cry aloud! Don't hold back nor be timid!
Lift your voice like a trumpeting blast;
tell my people about their transgressions,
and the sins Jacob's house has amassed.
They are eager to seek me out daily,
and delight in my ways and commands,
as if they were a God-fearing people
who obeyed my decrees and demands.
For my judgment and justice, they plea,
and take pleasure in worshiping me.
Lift your voice like a trumpeting blast;
tell my people about their transgressions,
and the sins Jacob's house has amassed.
They are eager to seek me out daily,
and delight in my ways and commands,
as if they were a God-fearing people
who obeyed my decrees and demands.
For my judgment and justice, they plea,
and take pleasure in worshiping me.
We have fasted, they say, have you noticed?
Do you see everything that we do?
We have humbled ourselves in your presense;
do the actions we take impress you?
Do you see everything that we do?
We have humbled ourselves in your presense;
do the actions we take impress you?
On the day of your fast, you seek pleasure,
and pursue lust instead of your grief;
you oppress your own servants and workers,
so they neither have peace nor relief.
And your fast only causes contention,
that will end up in quarrels and fights;
it's no wonder your fasting is useless,
and your prayers never reach heaven's heights.
and pursue lust instead of your grief;
you oppress your own servants and workers,
so they neither have peace nor relief.
And your fast only causes contention,
that will end up in quarrels and fights;
it's no wonder your fasting is useless,
and your prayers never reach heaven's heights.
Is your fast something that I have chosen —
to be humbled for merely one day?
For your head, like a reed, to be bowing,
or spread sackcloth and ash where you lay?
Could you call this a fast — do you know?
And would Yahweh accept it as so?
to be humbled for merely one day?
For your head, like a reed, to be bowing,
or spread sackcloth and ash where you lay?
Could you call this a fast — do you know?
And would Yahweh accept it as so?
Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen:
loose the bonds of those you’ve wrongly chained;
lighten loads for the ones you have burdened,
break the yokes of the ones you’ve restrained.
Is it not to break bread with the hungry,
bring the homeless in through your front door;
clothe the beggar and cover the naked,
to ignore your own family no more?
loose the bonds of those you’ve wrongly chained;
lighten loads for the ones you have burdened,
break the yokes of the ones you’ve restrained.
Is it not to break bread with the hungry,
bring the homeless in through your front door;
clothe the beggar and cover the naked,
to ignore your own family no more?
Then the light will break forth like the dawning,
and your healing will quickly appear;
with your righteousness leading you forward,
Yahweh’s glory will be at your rear.
When you call to the LORD, He will answer;
when you cry, He will say, ‘Here am I.’
If you cast off your yoke of oppression,
end your pointing, the blaming, the lie;
if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and ensure that the needy are fed,
then your light will rise up in the darkness,
your gloom turning to sunshine, instead.
And Jehovah will guide you forever
even deserts won’t quench His supply;
you will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring that will never run dry.
You’ll rebuild what has long been in ruins;
lay foundations that long ago fell.
You’ll be known as rebuilders of cities,
and restorers of streets where men dwell.
and your healing will quickly appear;
with your righteousness leading you forward,
Yahweh’s glory will be at your rear.
When you call to the LORD, He will answer;
when you cry, He will say, ‘Here am I.’
If you cast off your yoke of oppression,
end your pointing, the blaming, the lie;
if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and ensure that the needy are fed,
then your light will rise up in the darkness,
your gloom turning to sunshine, instead.
And Jehovah will guide you forever
even deserts won’t quench His supply;
you will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring that will never run dry.
You’ll rebuild what has long been in ruins;
lay foundations that long ago fell.
You’ll be known as rebuilders of cities,
and restorers of streets where men dwell.
If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
and pursue not your pleasure that day,
but delight in the LORD’s holy Sabbath
as you honor the LORD in this way:
that your own pleasure you do not seek
or your idle words you do not speak.
Then will you find delight in Jehovah,
and He’ll cause you to ride the earth’s height,
and you’ll feed on the promise of Jacob,
thus, the mouth of the LORD spoke in might.
and pursue not your pleasure that day,
but delight in the LORD’s holy Sabbath
as you honor the LORD in this way:
that your own pleasure you do not seek
or your idle words you do not speak.
Then will you find delight in Jehovah,
and He’ll cause you to ride the earth’s height,
and you’ll feed on the promise of Jacob,
thus, the mouth of the LORD spoke in might.
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