Isaiah 58–66

What True Worship Is All About

58The Lord told me,

“Shout out loud. Do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Tell my people that they have refused to obey me.

Tell the family of Jacob how much they have sinned.

²Day after day they worship me.

They seem ready and willing to know how I want them to live.

They act as if they were a nation that does what is right.

They act as if they have not turned away from my commands.

They claim to want me to give them fair decisions.

They seem ready and willing to come near and worship me.

³‘We have gone without food,’ they say.

‘Why haven’t you noticed it?

We have made ourselves suffer.

Why haven’t you paid any attention to us?’

“On the day when you fast, you do as you please.

You take advantage of all of your workers.

⁴When you fast, it ends in arguing and fighting.

You hit one another with your fists.

That is an evil thing to do.

The way you are now fasting

keeps your prayers from being heard in heaven.

⁵Do you think that is the way I want you to fast?

Is it only a time for a man to make himself suffer?

Is it only for people to bow their heads like tall grass that is bent by the wind?

Is it only for people to lie down on black cloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast?

Do you think I can accept that?

⁶“Here is the way I want you to fast.

“Set free those who are held by chains without any reason.

Untie the ropes that hold people as slaves.

Set free those who are crushed.

Break every evil chain.

⁷Share your food with hungry people.

Provide homeless people with a place to stay.

Give naked people clothes to wear.

Provide for the needs of your own family.

⁸Then the light of my blessing will shine on you like the rising sun.

I will heal you quickly.

I will march out ahead of you.

And my glory will follow behind you and guard you.

That is because I always do what is right.

⁹You will call out to me for help.

And I will answer you.

You will cry out.

And I will say, ‘Here I am.’

“Get rid of the chains you use to hold others down.

Stop pointing your finger at others as if they had done something wrong.

Stop saying harmful things about them.

¹⁰Work hard to feed hungry people.

Satisfy the needs of those who are crushed.

Then my blessing will light up your darkness.

And the night of your suffering will become as bright as the noonday sun.

¹¹I will always guide you.

I will satisfy your needs in a land that is baked by the sun.

I will make you stronger.

You will be like a garden that has plenty of water.

You will be like a spring whose water never runs dry.

¹²Your people will rebuild the cities that were destroyed long ago.

And you will build again on the old foundations.

You will be called The One Who Repairs Broken Walls.

You will be called The One Who Makes City Streets Like New Again.

¹³“Do not work on the Sabbath day.

Do not do just anything you want to on my holy day.

Make the Sabbath a day you can enjoy.

Honor my holy day.

Do not work on it.

Do not do just anything you want to.

Do not talk about things that are worthless.

¹⁴Then you will find your joy in me.

I will give you control over the most important places in the land.

And you will enjoy all of the good things

in the land I gave your father Jacob.”

The Lord has spoken.

The Lord Sets His People Free

59People of Israel, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you.

His ears aren’t too deaf to hear your cry for help.

²But your sins have separated you from your God.

They have caused him to turn his face away from you.

So he won’t listen to you.

³Your hands and fingers are stained with blood.

You are guilty of committing murder.

Your mouth has told lies.

Your tongue says evil things.

⁴People aren’t fair when they present their cases in court.

They aren’t honest when they state their case.

They depend on weak arguments. They tell lies.

They plan to make trouble.

Then they carry it out.

⁵The plans they make are like the eggs of poisonous snakes.

Anyone who eats those eggs will die.

When one of them is broken, a snake comes out.

⁶Those people weave their evil plans together like a spider’s web.

But the webs they make can’t be used as clothes.

They can’t cover themselves with what they make.

Their acts are evil.

They do things to harm others.

⁷They are always in a hurry to sin.

They run quickly to murder those who aren’t guilty.

Their thoughts are evil.

They leave a trail of suffering and pain.

⁸They don’t know how to live at peace with others.

What they do isn’t fair.

They lead twisted lives.

No one who lives like that will enjoy peace and rest.

⁹We aren’t being treated fairly.

We haven’t been set free yet.

The God who always does what is right

hasn’t come to help us.

We look for light. But we see nothing but darkness.

We look for brightness. But we walk in deep shadows.

¹⁰Like blind people we feel our way along the wall.

We are like those who can’t see.

At noon we trip and fall as if the sun had already set.

Compared to those who are healthy, we are like dead people.

¹¹All of us growl like hungry bears.

We cry like sad doves.

We want the Lord to do what is fair and save us.

But he doesn’t do it.

We long for him to set us free.

But the time for that seems far away.

¹²That’s because we’ve done so many things he considers wrong.

Our sins prove that we are guilty.

The wrong things we’ve done are always troubling us.

We admit that we have sinned.

¹³We’ve refused to obey the Lord.

We’ve made evil plans against him.

We’ve turned our backs on our God.

We’ve stirred up trouble and refused to follow him.

We’ve told lies that came from our own minds.

¹⁴So people stop others from doing what is fair.

They keep them from doing what is right.

No one tells the truth in court anymore.

No one is honest there.

¹⁵In fact, truth can’t be found anywhere.

Those who refuse to do evil are attacked.

The Lord sees that people aren’t treating others fairly.

That makes him unhappy.

¹⁶He sees that there is no one who helps his people.

He is shocked that no one stands up for them.

So he will use his own powerful arm to save them.

He has the strength to do it because he is holy.

¹⁷He will put the armor of holiness on his chest.

He’ll put the helmet of salvation on his head.

He’ll pay people back for the wrong things they do.

He’ll wrap himself in anger as if it were a coat.

¹⁸He will pay his enemies back for what they have done.

He’ll pour his anger out on them.

He’ll punish those who attack him.

He’ll give the people in the islands what they have coming to them.

¹⁹People in the west will show respect for the Lord’s name.

People in the east will worship him because of his glory.

The Lord will come like a rushing river that was held back.

His breath will drive it along.

²⁰“I set my people free. I will come to Mount Zion.

I will come to those in Jacob’s family who turn away from their sins,”

announces the Lord.

²¹“Here is the covenant I will make with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit is on you. I have put my words in your mouth. They will never leave your mouth. And they will never leave the mouths of your children or their children after them. That will be true for all time to come,” says the Lord.

Zion Will Be Glorious

60“People of Jerusalem, get up.

Shine, because your light has come.

My glory will shine on you.

²Darkness covers the earth.

Thick darkness spreads over the nations.

But I will rise and shine on you.

My glory will appear over you.

³Nations will come to your light.

Kings will come to the brightness of your new day.

⁴“Look up. Look all around you.

All of your people are getting together to come back to you.

Your sons will come from far away.

Your daughters will be carried like little children.

⁵Then your face will glow with joy.

Your heart will beat fast because you are so happy.

Wealth from across the ocean will be brought to you.

The riches of the nations will come to you.

⁶Herds of young camels will cover your land.

They will come from Midian and Ephah.

They will also come from Sheba.

They’ll carry gold and incense.

And people will shout praises to me.

⁷All of Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you.

The rams of Nebaioth will serve as your sacrifices.

I will accept them as offerings on my altar.

That is how I will bring honor to my glorious temple.

⁸“Whose ships are these that sail along like clouds?

They fly like doves to their nests.

⁹People from the islands are coming to me.

The ships of Tarshish are out in front.

They are bringing your children back from far away.

Your children are bringing their silver and gold with them.

They are coming to honor me.

I am the Lord your God.

I am the Holy One of Israel.

I have honored you.

¹⁰“People from other lands will rebuild your walls.

Their kings will serve you.

When I was angry with you, I struck you.

But now I will show you my tender love.

¹¹Your gates will always stand open.

They will never be shut, day or night.

Then people can bring you the wealth of the nations.

Their kings will come along with them.

¹²The nation or kingdom that will not serve you will be destroyed.

It will be completely wiped out.

¹³“Lebanon’s glorious trees will be brought to you.

Its pines, firs and cypress trees will be brought.

They will be used to make my temple beautiful.

And I will bring glory to the place where my throne is.

¹⁴The children of those who crush you will come and bow down to you.

All those who hate you will kneel down at your feet.

Jerusalem, they will call you The City of the Lord.

They will name you Zion, the City of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵“You have been deserted and hated.

No one even travels through you.

But I will make you into something to be proud of forever.

You will be a place of joy for all time to come.

¹⁶You will get everything you need from kings and nations.

You will be like children who are nursing

at their mother’s breasts.

Then you will know that I am the one who saves you.

I am the Lord. I set you free.

I am the Mighty One of Jacob.

¹⁷Instead of bronze I will bring you gold.

In place of iron I will give you silver.

Instead of wood I will bring you bronze.

In place of stones I…