58:1 Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up thy
voice as with a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the
house of Jacob their iniquities.
58:2 They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that
had done righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgment of their God: they
now ask of me righteous judgment, and desire to draw nigh to God,
58:3 saying, Why have we fasted, and thou regardest not? [why] have we
afflicted our souls, and thou didst not know it? Nay, in the days of your
fasts ye find your pleasures, and all them that are under your power ye
wound.
58:4 If ye fast for quarrels and strifes, and smite the lowly with [your]
fists, wherefore do ye fast to me as [ye do] this day, so that your voice
may be heard in crying?
58:5 I have not chosen this fast, nor [such] a day for a man to afflict his
soul; neither though thou shouldest bend down thy neck as a ring, and spread
under thee sackcloth and ashes, neither thus shall ye call a fast
acceptable.
58:6 I have not chosen such a fast, saith the Lord; but do thou loose every
burden of iniquity, do thou untie the knots of hard bargains, set the
bruised free, and cancel every unjust account.
58:7 Break thy bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to thy
house: if thou seest one naked, clothe [him], and thou shalt not disregard
the relations of thine own seed.
58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall
speedily spring forth: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the
glory of God shall compass thee.
58:9 Then shalt thou cry, and God shall hearken to thee; while thou art yet
speaking he will say, Behold, I am here. If thou remove from thee the band,
and the stretching forth of the hands, and murmuring speech;
58:10 and [if] thou give bread to the hungry from thy heart, and satisfy the
afflicted soul; then shall thy light spring up in darkness, and thy darkness
[shall be] as noon-day:
58:11 and thy God shall be with thee continually, and thou shalt be
satisfied according as thy soul desires; and thy bones shall be made fat,
and shall be as a well-watered garden, and as a fountain [from] which the
water has not failed.
58:12 And thy old waste desert [places] shall be built up, and thy
foundations shall last through all generations; and thou shalt be called a
repairer of breaches, and thou shalt cause thy paths between to be in peace.
58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, so as not to do thy
pleasure on the holy days, and shalt call the sabbaths delightful, holy to
God; [if] thou shalt not lift up thy foot to work, nor speak a word in anger
out of thy mouth,
58:14 then shalt thou trust on the Lord; and he shall bring thee up to the
good places of the land, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy
father: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this. |
58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice
like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of
Jacob their sins.
58:2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that
did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of
me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
58:3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have
we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of
your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of
wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be
heard on high.
58:5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his
soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and
ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the
LORD?
58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and
that ye break every yoke?
58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor
that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover
him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall
spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory
of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he
shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the
putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
58:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted
soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the
noon day:
58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou
shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be
called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure
on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD,
honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
58:14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to
ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of
Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. |