Isaiah 58:1–12

Fasting that Pleases God

58“Cry aloud, ¹spare not;

Lift up your voice like a trumpet;

^aTell My people their transgression,

And the house of Jacob their sins.

²Yet they seek Me daily,

And delight to know My ways,

As a nation that did righteousness,

And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.

They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;

They take delight in approaching God.

³‘Why ^bhave we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?

Why have we ^cafflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’

“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,

And ²exploit all your laborers.

^4dIndeed you fast for strife and debate,

And to strike with the fist of wickedness.

You will not fast as you do this day,

To make your voice heard on high.

⁵Is ^eit a fast that I have chosen,

^fA day for a man to afflict his soul?

Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,

And ^gto spread out sackcloth and ashes?

Would you call this a fast,

And an acceptable day to the Lord?

⁶“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:

To ^hloose the bonds of wickedness,

ⁱTo undo the ³heavy burdens,

^jTo let the oppressed go free,

And that you break every yoke?

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

And that you bring to your house the poor who are ⁴cast out;

^lWhen you see the naked, that you cover him,

And not hide yourself from ^myour own flesh?

⁸ⁿThen your light shall break forth like the morning,

Your healing shall spring forth speedily,

And your righteousness shall go before you;

^oThe glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

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

“If you take away the yoke from your midst,

The ⁵pointing of the finger, and ^pspeaking wickedness,

¹⁰If you extend your soul to the hungry

And satisfy the afflicted soul,

Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,

And your ⁶darkness shall be as the noonday.

¹¹The Lord will guide you continually,

And satisfy your soul in drought,

And strengthen your bones;

You shall be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

¹²Those from among you

^qShall build the old waste places;

You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,

The Restorer of ⁷Streets to Dwell In.