Isaiah 58:1–9

Fasting As Yahweh Chooses

¹“^aCall out from your throat, do not hold back;

Raise your voice like a trumpet,

And declare to My people their ^btransgression

And to the house of Jacob their sins.

²“Yet they ^aseek Me day by day and find pleasure in knowing My ways,

As a nation that has done ^brighteousness

And ^chas not forsaken the judgment of their God.

They ask Me for righteous judgments;

They find pleasure in ^dthe nearness of God.

³‘Why have we ^afasted and You do not see?

Why have we afflicted our souls and You do not know?’

Behold, on the ^bday of your fast you find your desire,

And oppress all your workers.

⁴“Behold, you fast for contention and ^aquarreling and to strike with a wicked fist.

You do not fast like you do today to ^bmake your voice heard on high.

⁵“Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to afflict himself?

Is it for bowing ¹one’s head like a reed

And for spreading out ^asackcloth and ashes as a bed?

Will you call this a fast, even an ^bacceptable day to Yahweh?

⁶“Is this not the fast which I choose,

To ^aloosen the bonds of wickedness,

To release the bands of ¹the yoke,

And to ^blet the oppressed go free

And ^cbreak every ²yoke?

⁷“Is it not to ^adivide your bread ¹with the hungry

And ^bbring the afflicted homeless into the house;

When you see the ^cnaked, you cover him;

And not to ^dhide yourself from your own flesh?

⁸“Then your ^alight will break out like the dawn,

And your ^brecovery will speedily spring forth;

And your ^crighteousness will go before you;

The glory of ^dYahweh will be your rear guard.

⁹“Then you will ^acall, and Yahweh will answer;

You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you ^bremove the ¹yoke from your midst,

The ^2cpointing of the finger and ^dspeaking wickedness,