> [[isaiah-57|← Previous]] | [[isaiah-00|TOC]] | [[isaiah-59|Next →]] --- # Isaiah, Chapter 58 ## Chapter 58 ### Reasons for Judgment 1 Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, ^isaiah-58-1 lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Proclaim to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 They seek me day after day, ^isaiah-58-2 and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the judgment of their God; They ask of me just judgments, they desire to draw near to God. 3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see it? ^isaiah-58-3 afflict ourselves, but you take no note?” See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. 4 See, you fast only to quarrel and fight ^isaiah-58-4 and to strike with a wicked fist! Do not fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high! 5 Is this the manner of fasting I would choose, ^isaiah-58-5 a day to afflict oneself? To bow one’s head like a reed, and lie upon sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? ### Authentic Fasting That Leads to Blessing 6 Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose: ^isaiah-58-6 releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking off every yoke? 7 Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, ^isaiah-58-7 bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own flesh? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, ^isaiah-58-8 and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, ^isaiah-58-9 you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!” If you remove the yoke from among you, the accusing finger, and malicious speech; 10 If you lavish your food on the hungry ^isaiah-58-10 and satisfy the afflicted; Then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall become like midday; 11 Then the LORD will guide you always ^isaiah-58-11 and satisfy your thirst in parched places, will give strength to your bones And you shall be like a watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people shall rebuild the ancient ruins; ^isaiah-58-12 the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; “Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you, “Restorer of ruined dwellings.” ### Authentic Sabbath Observance That Leads to Blessing 13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, ^isaiah-58-13 from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, the LORD’s holy day glorious; If you glorify it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs— 14 Then you shall delight in the LORD, ^isaiah-58-14 and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. \* (58:1] – [5) The prophet is commanded to condemn the formalism of the people, specifically their hypocritical fasting. \* (58:6] – [12) Fasting is not genuine without reforming one’s way of life. A true social morality will ensure prosperity. \* (58:13] – [14) Sabbath observance becomes a cornerstone of postexilic piety; cf. [56:2], [4], [6]. a. (58:1) [Lv 25:9]. b. (58:3) [1 Sm 7:6]; [[1-kings-21|1 Kgs 21]]:12; [1 Mc 3:47]; [Jl 1:1] – [2:17]. c. (58:5) [Zec 7:5]. d. (58:6) [Is 35:5] – [6]. e. (58:7) [[ezekiel-18|Ez 18]]:7, [16]; ([[matthew-25|Mt 25]]:35]. f. (58:9) [Am 5:7]. g. (58:11) [Is 51:3]; [Ps 24]. h. (58:12) [Is 61:4]. i. (58:14) [Hb 3:19]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[isaiah-57|← Previous]] | [[isaiah-00|TOC]] | [[isaiah-59|Next →]]