Isaiah 58–66

Chapter 58

Observances of Fasts

¹“^aCry loudly, 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 delight to know My ways,

As a nation that has done ^brighteousness

And ^chas not forsaken the ordinance of their God.

They ask Me for just decisions,

They delight ^din the nearness of God.

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

Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not ¹notice?’

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

And drive hard all your workers.

⁴“Behold, you fast for contention and ^astrife 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 humble 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 the Lord?

⁶“Is this not the fast which I choose,

To ^aloosen the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the bands of the yoke,

And to ^blet the oppressed go free

And ^cbreak every yoke?

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

And ^bbring the homeless poor into the house;

When you see the ^cnaked, to 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 the ^dLord will be your rear guard.

⁹“Then you will ^acall, and the Lord will answer;

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

If you ^bremove the yoke from your midst,

The ^1cpointing of the finger and ^dspeaking wickedness,

¹⁰And if you ^1agive yourself to the hungry

And satisfy the ²desire of the afflicted,

Then your ^blight will rise in darkness

And your gloom will become like midday.

¹¹“And the ^aLord will continually guide you,

And ^bsatisfy your ¹desire in scorched places,

And ^cgive strength to your bones;

And you will be like a ^dwatered garden,

And like a ^espring of water whose waters do not ²fail.

¹²“Those from among you will ^arebuild the ancient ruins;

You will ^braise up the age-old foundations;

And you will be called the repairer of the ^cbreach,

The restorer of the ¹streets in which to dwell.

Keeping the Sabbath

¹³“If because of the sabbath, you ^aturn your foot

From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,

And call the sabbath a ^bdelight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,

And honor it, desisting from your ^cown ways,

From seeking your own pleasure

And ^dspeaking your own word,

¹⁴Then you will take ^adelight in the Lord,

And I will make you ride ^bon the heights of the earth;

And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,

For the ^cmouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Chapter 59

Separation from God

¹Behold, ^athe Lord’s hand is not so short

That it cannot save;

^bNor is His ear so dull

That it cannot hear.

²But your ^ainiquities have made a separation between you and your God,

And your sins have hidden His ¹face from you so that He does ^bnot hear.

³For your ^ahands are defiled with blood

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken ^bfalsehood,

Your tongue mutters wickedness.

^4aNo one sues righteously and ^bno one pleads ¹honestly.

They ^ctrust in confusion and speak lies;

They ^dconceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

⁵They hatch adders’ eggs and ^aweave the spider’s web;

He who eats of their eggs dies,

And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.

⁶Their webs will not become clothing,

Nor will they ^acover themselves with their works;

Their ^bworks are works of iniquity,

And an ^cact of violence is in their ¹hands.

^7aTheir feet run to evil,

And they hasten to shed innocent blood;

^bTheir thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,

Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

⁸They do not know the ^away of peace,

And there is ^bno justice in their tracks;

They have made their paths crooked,

^cWhoever treads on ¹them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

⁹Therefore ^ajustice is far from us,

And righteousness does not overtake us;

We ^bhope for light, but behold, darkness,

For brightness, but we walk in gloom.

¹⁰We ^agrope along the wall like blind men,

We grope like those who have no eyes;

We ^bstumble at midday as in the twilight,

Among those who are vigorous we are ^clike dead men.

¹¹All of us growl like bears,

And ^amoan sadly like doves;

We hope for ^bjustice, but there is none,

For salvation, but it is far from us.

¹²For our ^atransgressions are multiplied before You,

And our ^bsins ¹testify against us;

For our transgressions are with us,

And ²we know our iniquities:

¹³Transgressing and ^adenying the Lord,

And turning away from our God,

Speaking ^boppression and revolt,

Conceiving in and ^cuttering from the heart lying words.

^14aJustice is turned back,

And ^brighteousness stands far away;

For truth has stumbled in the street,

And uprightness cannot enter.

¹⁵Yes, truth is lacking;

And he who turns aside from evil ^amakes himself a prey.

Now the Lord saw,

And it was ¹displeasing in His sight ^bthat there was no justice.

¹⁶And He saw that there was ^ano man,

And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;

Then His ^bown arm brought salvation to Him,

And His righteousness upheld Him.

¹⁷He put on ^arighteousness like a breastplate,

And a ^bhelmet of salvation on His head;

And He put on ^cgarments of vengeance for clothing

And wrapped Himself with ^dzeal as a mantle.

^18aAccording to their ¹deeds, ²so He will repay,

Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;

To the coastlands He will ³make recompense.

¹⁹So they will fear the name of the Lord from the ^awest

And His glory from the ^brising of the sun,

For He will ^ccome like a ¹rushing stream

Which the wind of the Lord drives.

²⁰“A ^aRedeemer will come to Zion,

And to those who ^bturn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.

²¹“As for Me, this is My ^acovenant with them,” says the Lord: “My ^bSpirit which is upon you, and My ^cwords which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your ¹offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

Chapter 60

A Glorified Zion

¹“^aArise, shine; for your ^blight has come,

And the ^cglory of the Lord has risen upon you.

²“For behold, ^adarkness will cover the earth

And deep darkness the peoples;

But the Lord will rise upon you

And His ^bglory will appear upon you.

³“^aNations will come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

⁴“^aLift up your eyes round about and see;

They all gather together, they ^bcome to you.

Your sons will come from afar,

And your ^cdaughters will be ¹carried in the arms.

⁵“Then you will see and be ^aradiant,

And your heart will ¹thrill and rejoice;

Because the ^babundance of the sea will be turned to you,

The ^cwealth of the nations will come to you.

⁶“A multitude of camels will cover you,

The young camels of Midian and ^aEphah;

All those from ^bSheba will come;

They will bring ^cgold and frankincense,

And will ^dbear good news of the praises of the Lord.

⁷“All the flocks of ^aKedar will be gathered together to you,

The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you;

They will go up with acceptance on My ^baltar,

And I shall ^1cglorify My ²glorious house.

⁸“^aWho are these who fly like a cloud

And like the doves to their ¹lattices?

⁹“Surely the ^acoastlands will wait for Me;

And the ^bships of Tarshish will come first,

To ^cbring your sons from afar,

Their silver and their gold with them,

For the name of the Lord your God,

And for the Holy One of Israel because He has ^1dglorified you.

¹⁰“^aForeigners will build up your walls,

And their ^bkings will minister to you;

For in My ^cwrath I struck you,

And in My favor I have had compassion on you.

¹¹“Your ^agates will be open continually;

They will not be closed day or night,

So that men may ^bbring to you the wealth of the nations,

With ^ctheir kings led in procession.

¹²“For the ^anation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish,

And the nations will be utterly ruined.

¹³“The ^aglory of Lebanon will come to you,

The ^bjuniper, the box tree and the cypress together,

To beautify the place of My sanctuary;

And I shall make the ^cplace of My feet glorious.

¹⁴“The ^asons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you,

And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet;

And they will call you the ^bcity of the Lord,

The ^cZion of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵“Whereas you have been ^aforsaken and ^bhated

With no one passing through,

I will make you an everlasting ^cpride,

A joy from generation to generation.

¹⁶“You will also ^asuck the milk of nations

And suck the breast of kings;

Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your ^bSavior

And your ^cRedeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

¹⁷“Instead of bronze I will bring gold,

And instead of iron I will bring silver,

And instead of wood, bronze,

And instead of stones, iron.

And I will make peace your administrators

And righteousness your overseers.

¹⁸“^aViolence will not be heard again in your land,

Nor ^bdevastation or destruction within your borders;

But you will call your ^cwalls salvation, and your ^dgates praise.

¹⁹“No longer will you have the ^asun for light by day,

Nor for brightness will the moon give you light;

But you will have the ^bLord for an everlasting light,

And your ^cGod for your ¹glory.

²⁰“Your ^asun will no longer set,

Nor will your moon wane;

For you will have the Lord for an everlasting light,

And the days of your ^bmourning will be over.

²¹“Then all your ^apeople will be righteous;

They will ^bpossess the land forever,

The branch of ¹My planting,

The ^cwork of My hands,

That I may be ^dglorified.

²²“The ^asmallest one will become a ¹clan,

And the least one a mighty nation.

I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.”

Chapter 61

Exaltation of the Afflicted

¹The ^aSpirit of the Lord ¹God is upon me,

Because the Lord has anointed me

To ^bbring good news to the ^2cafflicted;

He has sent me to ^dbind up the brokenhearted,

To ^eproclaim liberty to captives

And ³freedom to prisoners;

²To ^a…