58:1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.
58:2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
58:3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
58:4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
58:5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
58:6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
58:7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter–when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
58:8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
58:9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
58:10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
58:11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
58:12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
58:13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’S holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
58:14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
58:1 Cry loudly; do not hold back; / Raise your voice like a trumpet, / And declare to My people their transgression / And to the house of Jacob their sins.
58:2 Yet they seek Me day by day / And take delight in knowing My ways, / Like a nation that has done righteousness / And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. / They ask Me for righteous judgments; / They take delight in approaching God.
58:3 Why have we fasted, and yet You do not see? / Why have we afflicted our soul, and yet You do not acknowledge? / Indeed, on the day of your fast you find delight, / And oppress all your laborers.
58:4 Indeed, you fast for contention and strife, / And to strike with a fist of wickedness; / You do not fast, in the way you do today, / To make your voice heard on high.
58:5 Is such the fast that I choose, / The day when a man afflicts his soul? / Is it for bowing his head like a rush / And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as his bed? / Will you call this a fast, / And an acceptable day to Jehovah?
58:6 Is this not the fast that I choose, / To loosen the bonds of wickedness, / To undo the bands of the yoke, / And to let the oppressed go free, / And to break every yoke?
58:7 Is it not to divide your bread to the hungry, / And to bring the wandering poor home; / When you see the naked, to cover him, / And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
58:8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, / And your recovery will speedily spring forth. / And your righteousness will go before you; / The glory of Jehovah will guard you from behind.
58:9 Then you will call, and Jehovah 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 the speaking of wickedness,
58:10 And if you draw out your soul to the hungry / And satisfy the desires of the afflicted; / Then your light will rise in the darkness, / And your gloom will be like midday;
58:11 And Jehovah will guide you continually, / And satisfy your soul in the dry times, / And strengthen your bones; / And you will be like a watered garden, / And like a spring of water, / Whose waters do not deceive.
58:12 And those who are of you will rebuild the ancient ruins; / You will raise up the foundations of generation upon generation; / And you will be called the repairer of the breach, / The restorer of the paths in which to dwell.
58:13 If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, / From doing whatever you please on My holy day, / And call the Sabbath a delight, / That which is holy to Jehovah honorable, / And honor it, not doing your own ways, / Nor finding your own pleasure and speaking idle words;
58:14 Then you will have delight in Jehovah; / And I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the earth, / And I will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father; / For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.