Isaiah 58

New International Version

True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,^(A) do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.^(B)
Declare to my people their rebellion^(C)
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.^(D)
²For day after day they seek^(E) me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken^(F) the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near^(G) them.
³‘Why have we fasted,’^(H) they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled^(I) ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’^(J)

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please^(K)
    and exploit all your workers.
⁴Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,^(L)
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard^(M) on high.
⁵Is this the kind of fast^(N) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble^(O) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed^(P)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?^(Q)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the kind of fasting^(R) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice^(S)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed^(T) free
    and break every yoke?^(U)
⁷Is it not to share your food with the hungry^(V)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter^(W)—
when you see the naked, to clothe^(X) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?^(Y)
⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn,^(Z)
    and your healing^(AA) will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a]^(AB) will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.^(AC)
⁹Then you will call,^(AD) and the Lord will answer;^(AE)
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger^(AF) and malicious talk,^(AG)
¹⁰and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,^(AH)
then your light^(AI) will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.^(AJ)
¹¹The Lord will guide^(AK) you always;
    he will satisfy your needs^(AL) in a sun-scorched land^(AM)
    and will strengthen^(AN) your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,^(AO)
    like a spring^(AP) whose waters never fail.
¹²Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins^(AQ)
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;^(AR)
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,^(AS)
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

¹³“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath^(AT)
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight^(AU)
    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,^(AV)
¹⁴then you will find your joy^(AW) in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights^(AX) of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance^(AY) of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^(AZ)

Footnotes

Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One

Isaiah 59

New International Version

Sin, Confession and Redemption

59 Surely the arm^(A) of the Lord is not too short^(B) to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.^(C)
²But your iniquities have separated^(D)
    you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.^(E)
³For your hands are stained with blood,^(F)
    your fingers with guilt.^(G)
Your lips have spoken falsely,^(H)
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.
⁴No one calls for justice;^(I)
    no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely^(J) on empty arguments, they utter lies;^(K)
    they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.^(L)
⁵They hatch the eggs of vipers^(M)
    and spin a spider’s web.^(N)
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
    and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
⁶Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.^(O)
Their deeds are evil deeds,
    and acts of violence^(P) are in their hands.
⁷Their feet rush into sin;
    they are swift to shed innocent blood.^(Q)
They pursue evil schemes;^(R)
    acts of violence mark their ways.^(S)
⁸The way of peace they do not know;^(T)
    there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;^(U)
    no one who walks along them will know peace.^(V)

⁹So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;^(W)
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
¹⁰Like the blind^(X) we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble^(Y) as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.^(Z)
¹¹We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.^(AA)
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹²For our offenses^(AB) are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify^(AC) against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:^(AD)
¹³rebellion^(AE) and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs^(AF) on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,^(AG)
    uttering lies^(AH) our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴So justice^(AI) is driven back,
    and righteousness^(AJ) stands at a distance;
truth^(AK) has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth^(AL) is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.^(AM)
¹⁶He saw that there was no one,^(AN)
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;^(AO)
so his own arm achieved salvation^(AP) for him,
    and his own righteousness^(AQ) sustained him.
¹⁷He put on righteousness as his breastplate,^(AR)
    and the helmet^(AS) of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments^(AT) of vengeance^(AU)
    and wrapped himself in zeal^(AV) as in a cloak.
¹⁸According to what they have done,
    so will he repay^(AW)
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands^(AX) their due.
¹⁹From the west,^(AY) people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun,^(AZ) they will revere his glory.^(BA)
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath^(BB) of the Lord drives along.^[a]

²⁰“The Redeemer^(BC) will come to Zion,^(BD)
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”^(BE)
declares the Lord.

²¹“As for me, this is my covenant^(BF) with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,^(BG) who is on you, will not depart from you,^(BH) and my words that I have put in your mouth^(BI) 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.