Isaiah 58:1–59:21
58 “Shout it aloud,u do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.v
Declare to my people their rebellionw
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.x
2 For day after day they seeky me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsakenz the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come neara them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’b they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbledc ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’d
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you pleasee
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,f
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heardg on high.
5 Is this the kind of fasth I have chosen,
only a day for people to humblei themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reedj
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?k
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fastingl I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injusticem
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressedn free
and break every yoke?o
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungryp
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelterq—
when you see the naked, to clother them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?s
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,t
and your healingu will quickly appear;
then your righteousnessa v will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.w
9 Then you will call,x and the Lord will answer;y
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing fingerz and malicious talk,a
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,b
then your lightc will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.d
11 The Lord will guidee you always;
he will satisfy your needsf in a sun-scorched landg
and will strengthenh your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,i
like a springj whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruinsk
and will raise up the age-old foundations;l
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,m
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbathn
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delighto
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,p
14 then you will find your joyq in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heightsr of the land
and to feast on the inheritances of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.t
Sin, Confession and Redemption
59 Surely the armu of the Lord is not too shortv to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.w
2 But your iniquities have separatedx
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.y
3 For your hands are stained with blood,z
your fingers with guilt.a
Your lips have spoken falsely,b
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice;c
no one pleads a case with integrity.
They relyd on empty arguments, they utter lies;e
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.f
5 They hatch the eggs of vipersg
and spin a spider’s web.h
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.i
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and acts of violencej are in their hands.
they are swift to shed innocent blood.k
They pursue evil schemes;l
acts of violence mark their ways.m
8 The way of peace they do not know;n
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;o
no one who walks along them will know peace.p
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;q
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blindr we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumbles as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.t
we moan mournfully like doves.u
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offensesv are many in your sight,
and our sins testifyw against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:x
13 rebelliony and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backsz on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,a
uttering liesb our hearts have conceived.
14 So justicec is driven back,
and righteousnessd stands at a distance;
truthe has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
15 Truthf is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.g
16 He saw that there was no one,h
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;i
so his own arm achieved salvationj for him,
and his own righteousnessk sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,l
and the helmetm of salvation on his head;
he put on the garmentsn of vengeanceo
and wrapped himself in zealp as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repayq
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islandsr their due.
19 From the west,s people will fear the name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun,t they will revere his glory.u
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breathv of the Lord drives along.a
20 “The Redeemerw will come to Zion,x
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”y
declares the Lord.
21 “As for me, this is my covenantz with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,a who is on you, will not depart from you,b and my words that I have put in your mouthc will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.