Add parallel Print Page Options

Is this really the kind of fasting I want?[a]
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves,[b]
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out[c] on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord?
No, this is the kind of fast I want:[d]
I want you[e] to remove the sinful chains,
to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,
to set free the oppressed,[f]
and to break every burdensome yoke.
I want you[g] to share your food with the hungry
and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people.[h]
When you see someone naked, clothe them!
Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood.[i]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:5 tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”
  2. Isaiah 58:5 tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  3. Isaiah 58:5 tn Or “making [their] bed.”
  4. Isaiah 58:6 tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  5. Isaiah 58:6 tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  6. Isaiah 58:6 tn Heb “crushed.”
  7. Isaiah 58:7 tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”
  8. Isaiah 58:7 tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (merudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.
  9. Isaiah 58:7 tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

Is this the kind of fast(A) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble(B) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed(C)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?(D)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting(E) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice(F)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed(G) free
    and break every yoke?(H)
Is it not to share your food with the hungry(I)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter(J)
when you see the naked, to clothe(K) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?(L)

Read full chapter