Isaiah 58–66

TRUE FASTING

58“Cry out loudly, don’t hold back!

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Tell my people their transgression

and the house of Jacob their sins.

²They seek me day after day

and delight to know my ways,

like a nation that does what is right

and does not abandon the justice of their God.

They ask me for righteous judgments;

they delight in the nearness of God.”^s

³“Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?^t

We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!”^A

“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,

and oppress all your workers.^u

⁴You fast with contention and strife

to strike viciously with your fist.

You cannot fast as you do today,

hoping to make your voice heard on high.

⁵Will the fast I choose be like this:

A day for a person to deny himself,

to bow his head like a reed,

and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?^a

Will you call this a fast

and a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶Isn’t this the fast I choose:

To break the chains of wickedness,^b

to untie the ropes of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free,

and to tear off every yoke?^c

⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,^d

to bring the poor and homeless into your house,

to clothe the naked when you see him,^e

and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?^Bf

⁸Then your light will appear like the dawn,

and your recovery will come quickly.^g

Your righteousness will go before you,^h

and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.ⁱ

⁹At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;^j

when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you get rid of the yoke among you,

the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,^k

¹⁰and if you offer yourself^C to the hungry,

and satisfy the afflicted one,

then your light will shine in the darkness,^l

and your night will be like noonday.

¹¹The Lord will always lead you,

satisfy you in a parched land,

and strengthen your bones.

You will be like a watered garden^m

and like a spring whose water never runs dry.ⁿ

¹²Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;^o

you will restore the foundations laid long ago;^p

you will be called the repairer of broken walls,

the restorer of streets where people live.

¹³“If you keep from desecrating the Sabbath,^q

from doing whatever you want on my holy day;

if you call the Sabbath a delight,

and the holy day of the Lord honorable;

if you honor it, not going your own ways,^r

seeking your own pleasure, or talking business;^AB

¹⁴then you will delight in the Lord,^s

and I will make you ride over the heights of the land,^t

and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^u

SIN AND REDEMPTION

59Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save,^v

and his ear is not too deaf to hear.

²But your iniquities^w are separating you

from your God,

and your sins have hidden his face from you^x

so that he does not listen.^y

³For your hands are defiled with blood

and your fingers, with iniquity;

your lips have spoken lies,

and your tongues mutter injustice.

⁴No one makes claims justly;

no one pleads honestly.

They trust in empty and worthless words;

they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.^z

⁵They hatch viper’s eggs

and weave spider’s webs.

Whoever eats their eggs will die;

crack one open, and a viper is hatched.

⁶Their webs cannot become clothing,

and they cannot cover themselves with their works.

Their works are sinful works,

and violent acts are in their hands.

⁷Their feet run after evil,^aa

and they rush to shed innocent blood.^ab

Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;^ac

ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.

⁸They have not known the path of peace,^ad

and there is no justice in their ways.

They have made their roads crooked;

no one who walks on them will know peace.^a

⁹Therefore justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not reach us.

We hope for light, but there is darkness;

for brightness, but we live in the night.

¹⁰We grope along a wall like the blind;

we grope like those without eyes.^b

We stumble at noon as though it were twilight;

we are like the dead among those who are healthy.

¹¹We all growl like bears

and moan like doves.^c

We hope for justice, but there is none;

for salvation, but it is far from us.

¹²For our transgressions have multiplied before you,^d

and our sins testify against us.^e

For our transgressions are with us,

and we know our iniquities:^f

¹³transgression and deception against the Lord,

turning away from following our God,

speaking oppression and revolt,

conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.

¹⁴Justice is turned back,

and righteousness stands far off.

For truth has stumbled in the public square,

and honesty cannot enter.

¹⁵Truth is missing,

and whoever turns from evil is plundered.

The Lord saw that there was no justice,

and he was offended.

¹⁶He saw that there was no man—

he was amazed that there was no one interceding;^g

so his own arm brought salvation,

and his own righteousness supported him.

¹⁷He put on righteousness as body armor,

and a helmet of salvation on his head;^h

he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,

and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.ⁱ

¹⁸So he will repay according to their deeds:^j

fury to his enemies,

retribution to his foes,

and he will repay the coasts and islands.

¹⁹They will fear the name of the Lord in the west

and his glory in the east;^Ak

for he will come like a rushing stream^l

driven by the wind of the Lord.

²⁰“The Redeemer^m will come to Zion,

and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.”ⁿ

This is the Lord’s declaration.

²¹“As for me, this is my covenant with them,”^o says the Lord: “My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth,^p will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, from now on and forever,” says the Lord.

THE LORD’S GLORY IN ZION

60Arise, shine, for your light has come,^q

and the glory of the Lord shines over you.^Br

²For look, darkness will cover the earth,

and total darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will shine over you,

and his glory will appear over you.

³Nations will come to your light,

and kings to your shining brightness.^s

⁴Raise your eyes and look around:

they all gather and come to you;

your sons will come from far away,

and your daughters on the hips of nursing mothers.^t

⁵Then you will see and be radiant,^u

and your heart will tremble and rejoice,^A

because the riches of the sea will become yours

and the wealth of the nations will come to you.^v

⁶Caravans of camels will cover your land^B—

young camels of Midian and Ephah—

all of them will come from Sheba.^a

They will carry gold and frankincense^b

and proclaim the praises of the Lord.

⁷All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth will serve you^c

and go up on my altar as an acceptable sacrifice.^d

I will glorify my beautiful house.^e

⁸Who are these who fly like a cloud,

like doves to their shelters?^f

⁹Yes, the coasts and islands will wait for me^g

with the ships of Tarshish in the lead,^h

to bring your children from far away,ⁱ

their silver and gold with them,

for the honor of the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel,^j

who has glorified you.^k

¹⁰Foreigners will rebuild your walls,^l

and their kings will serve you.^m

Although I struck you in my wrath,

yet I will show mercy to you with my favor.ⁿ

¹¹Your city gates will always be open;

they will never be shut day or night

so that the wealth of the nations

may be brought into you,^o

with their kings being led in procession.

¹²For the nation and the kingdom

that will not serve you will perish;

those nations will be annihilated.^p

¹³The glory of Lebanon will come to you^q—

its pine, elm, and cypress together^r—

to beautify the place of my sanctuary,

and I will glorify my dwelling place.^C

¹⁴The sons of your oppressors

will come and bow down to you;^s

all who reviled you

will fall facedown at your feet.^t

They will call you the City of the Lord,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.^u

¹⁵Instead of your being deserted and hated,

with no one passing through,^v

I will make you an object of eternal pride,^w

a joy from age to age.

¹⁶You will nurse on the milk of nations,

and nurse at the breast of kings;^x

you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior^y

and Redeemer,^z the Mighty One of Jacob.^aa

¹⁷I will bring gold instead of bronze;

I will bring silver instead of iron,

bronze instead of wood,

and iron instead of stones.

I will appoint peace as your government

and righteousness as your overseers.

¹⁸Violence will never again be heard of in your land;^ab

devastation and destruction

will be gone from your borders.

You will call your walls Salvation^ac

and your city gates Praise.

¹⁹The sun will no longer be your light by day,

and the brightness of the moon will not shine on you.

The Lord will be your everlasting light,^ad

and your God will be your splendor.

²⁰Your sun will no longer set,

and your moon will not fade;

for the Lord will be your everlasting light,

and the days of your sorrow will be over.^ae

²¹All your people will be righteous;^af

they will possess the land forever;^ag

they are the branch I planted,

the work of my^A hands,

so that I may be glorified.^ah

²²The least will become a thousand,

the smallest a mighty nation.

I am the Lord;

I will accomplish it quickly in its time.

MESSIAH’S JUBILEE

61The Spirit of the Lord God is on me,^ai

because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.^aj

He has sent me to heal^B the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives

and freedom to the prisoners;^a

²to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,^b

and the day of our God’s vengeance;^c

to comfort^d all who mourn,

³to provide for those who mourn in Zion;

to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

festive oil instead of mourning,^e

and splendid clothes instead of despair.^C

And they will be called righteous trees,

planted by the Lord

to glorify him.^f

⁴They will rebuild the ancient ruins;^g

they will restore the former devastations;

they will renew the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

⁵Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,

and foreigners…