Isaiah 58

1 Cry aloud, do not spare, Like a horn, lift high thy voice, —And declare To my people, their transgression, and To the house of Jacob their sins.

Cry out! Cease not! Exalt your voice like a trumpet, and announce to my people their wicked acts, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 Yet, me—day by day, do they seek, And in the knowledge of my ways, they delight, —Like a nation that had done righteousness, And the justice of their God, had not forsaken They ask of me the just regulations, In approaching God, they delight.

For they also seek me, from day to day, and they are willing to know my ways, like a nation which has done justice and has not abandoned the judgment of their God. They petition me for judgments of justice. They are willing to draw near to God.

3 Wherefore have we Fasted and thou hast not seen? Humbled our soul, and thou wouldst take no note? Lo! in the day of your fast, ye take pleasure, But all your toilers, ye drive on!

“Why have we fasted, and you have not taken notice? Why have we humbled our souls, and you have not acknowledged it?” Behold, in the day of your fasting, your own will is found, and you petition for payment from all your debtors.

4 Lo! for strife and contention, ye fast, And to smite with the fist of lawlessness, —Ye shall not fast as to-day, To cause to be heard on high your voice!

Behold, you fast with strife and contention, and you strike with the fist impiously. Do not choose to fast as you have done even to this day. Then your outcry will be heard on high.

5 Like this, shall the fast be that I choose, A day for the son of earth to humble his soul? Is it to bow down as a rush his head, And sackcloth and ashes, to spread out? Is it, this, thou wilt call a fast, Or a day of acceptance with Yahweh?

Is this a fast such as I have chosen: for a man to afflict his soul for a day, to contort his head in a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? Should you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 Is not, this, the fast that I must ever choose—To unbind the tight cords of lawlessness, To unloose the bands of the yoke, —and To let the crushed go free, and That every yoke, ye tear off?

Is not this, instead, the kind of fast that I have chosen? Release the constraints of impiety; relieve the burdens that oppress; freely forgive those who are broken; and break apart every burden.

7 Is it not to break unto the hungry, thy bread, And the thrust-out oppressed, that thou bring into a home, —When thou seest one naked, that thou cover him, And from thine own flesh, shalt not hide thyself?

Break your bread with the hungry, and lead the destitute and the homeless into your house. When you see someone naked, cover him, and do not despise your own flesh.

8 Then, shall break forth, as the dawn, thy light, And thy new flesh shall speedily grow, —Then shall go before thee, thy righteousness, the glory of Yahweh shall bring up thy rear:

Then your light will break forth like the morning, and your health will improve quickly, and your justice will go before your face, and the glory of the Lord will gather you up.

9 Then, shalt thou Call, and Yahweh, will answer, Cry out, and he will say, Behold me! If thou remove, out of thy midst the yoke, The pointing of the finger, and The speaking of iniquity;

Then you will call, and the Lord will heed; you will cry out, and he will say, “Here I am,” if you take away the chains from your midst, and cease to point your finger and to speak what is not beneficial.

10 And shalt let thine own soul go out to the hungry, And the soul of the oppressed, thou shalt satisfy, Then shall break forth in darkness thy light, And thy thick darkness, become as the splendour of noon;

When you pour out your life for the hungry, and you satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise up in darkness, and your darkness will be like the midday.

11 Then will Yahweh guide thee continually, And will satisfy, [even] in scorched regions thine own soul, Yea thy very bones, will he invigorate, —So shall thou become like a garden well—watered, And like a spring of water whose waters do not deceive;

And the Lord will give you rest continually, and he will fill your soul with splendor, and he will free your bones, and you will be like a watered garden and like a fountain of water whose waters will not fail.

12 And they who come of thee shall build the wastes of age-past times, And as for the foundations of generation after generation, thou shalt rear them up, —So shalt thou be called—A Repairer of broken walls, A Restorer of paths leading home.

And places that have been desolate for ages will be built up by you. You will raise a foundation for generation after generation. And you will be called the repairer of hedges, who turns the roadways into quiet places.

13 If thou turn back. From the sabbath thy foot, From doing thine own pleasure on my holy day, —And shall call—The sabbath, An exquisite delight, The holy day of Yahweh, A day to be honoured, And so shall honour it rather—Than do thine own ways, Than take thine own pleasure or Than speak thine own word,

If you restrain your foot on the Sabbath, from doing your own will on my holy day, and if you call the Sabbath delightful, and the Holy of the Lord glorious, and if you glorify him, while you do not act according to your own ways, and your own will is not found, not even to speak a word,

14 Then, shalt thou rest thine own exquisite delight upon Yahweh, …And I will cause thee to ride over the high places of the land, —And will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father, For the mouth of Yahweh, hath spoken.

then you will find delight in the Lord, and I will take you up, above the heights of the earth, and I will nourish you with the inheritance of Jacob, your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.