Isaiah Chapter 58

False and True Worship

¹ “Shout; don’t hold back;

                  raise your voice like a ram’s horn;

                   tell my people their transgressions.

            ² They look to me daily and seem to delight to know my ways,

                        as if they’re a good nation that hasn’t left my ordinances;

                  they ask for favorable verdicts

                        and act like they delight in drawing near to me.

            ³ Then they wonder, ‘Why have we fasted, and you haven’t noticed?

                  Why have we humbled ourselves, and you haven’t acknowledged it?’

                  It’s because you fast to get what you want

                        (meanwhile overworking your workers)!                  

Is 58:1-3

            ⁴ You fast only to win disputes and fist fights—

                  not to be heard on high.

            ⁵ Is that the kind of fast I had in mind for humbling yourselves?

                  Isn’t that just going through the motions of bowing your head like a reed

                        and spreading out burlap and ashes under you?

                  Do you call that penance, a fast that’s acceptable to the LORD?

            ⁶ Isn’t this the kind of fast I had in mind:

                  loosening the bonds of people you falsely imprisoned,

                        undoing the straps of their yoke,

                        freeing the oppressed,

                        and breaking every ties that binds people?               

Is 58:4-6

            ⁷ Isn’t it sharing your food with the hungry,

                   bringing the homeless into your house,

                  dressing the naked when you see them,

                  not hiding from relatives that need you?

            ⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn;

                        your wounds will heal quickly.

                  Your good reputation will precede you;

                        the glory of the LORD will have your back.

            ⁹ You’ll call and he’ll answer;

                        you’ll appeal to him, and he’ll say, ‘I’m here.’

                  If you remove oppression from among you,

                        the finger pointing and vicious gossip,

                  if you feed the hungry

                        and satisfy the needs of the suffering—

                  ¹⁰ then you’ll be a light shining in the dark;

                        the gloom around you will turn to noonday light.     

Is 58:7-10

            ¹¹ The LORD will always guide you,

                        quench your thirst,

                        and restore your strength;

                  he’ll make you like an irrigated garden,

                        like a year-round spring.

                  ¹²Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

                        on foundations from long ago;

                  you’ll repair the breaches in the walls

                        and fix the streets you live on.                                   

Is 58:11-12

            ¹³ “If you turn around from the direction you’re headed,

                              stop doing just whatever you please on my holy day,

                        consider the Sabbath a delight,

                         honor the LORD’s day by what you do that day,

                        step aside from your own pursuits                             

                              and seeking your own pleasure and talking idly—

            ¹⁴ then you’ll be delighting in the LORD.

                  He’ll give you honor on the earth

                  and satisfy you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob.”

                                                            The LORD has spoken.             

Is 58:13-14