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Isaiah 58:1-9
New Living Translation
Isaiah 58:1-9
New Living Translation
True and False Worship
58 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel[a] of their sins!
2 Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
pretending they want to be near me.
3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
and you don’t even notice it!’
“I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
you keep oppressing your workers.
4 What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
will never get you anywhere with me.
5 You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?
6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
7 Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.
“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
Isaiah 58:1-9
New International Version
Isaiah 58:1-9
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)
2 For 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.
4 Your 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.
5 Is 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)
7 Is 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)
8 Then 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)
9 Then you will call,(AD) and the Lord will answer;(AE)
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.