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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)
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.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger(AF) and malicious talk,(AG)
10 and 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)
11 The 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.
12 Your 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)
14 then 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

1. Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One

#### Cross references

1. Isaiah 58:1 : Isa 40:6
2. Isaiah 58:1 : S Ex 20:18
3. Isaiah 58:1 : S Isa 24:20; S 48:8
4. Isaiah 58:1 : S Isa 57:12; Eze 3:17
5. Isaiah 58:2 : S Isa 48:1; Tit 1:16; Jas 4:8
6. Isaiah 58:2 : S Dt 32:15; S Ps 119:87
7. Isaiah 58:2 : Isa 29:13
8. Isaiah 58:3 : S Lev 16:29
9. Isaiah 58:3 : S Ex 10:3; S 2Ch 6:37; Jer 44:10
10. Isaiah 58:3 : Mal 3:14
11. Isaiah 58:3 : Isa 22:13; Zec 7:5-6
12. Isaiah 58:4 : 1Ki 21:9-13; Isa 59:6; Jer 6:7; Eze 7:11; Mal 2:16
13. Isaiah 58:4 : S 1Sa 8:18; Isa 59:2; La 3:44; Eze 8:18; Mic 3:4
14. Isaiah 58:5 : Zec 7:5
15. Isaiah 58:5 : 1Ki 21:27; Mt 6:16
16. Isaiah 58:5 : S Isa 36:6
17. Isaiah 58:5 : S Job 2:8
18. Isaiah 58:6 : Joel 2:12-14
19. Isaiah 58:6 : Ne 5:10-11
20. Isaiah 58:6 : S Dt 14:29; Isa 61:1; Jer 34:9; Am 4:1; S Lk 4:19
21. Isaiah 58:6 : S Isa 9:4
22. Isaiah 58:7 : S Job 22:7; Eze 18:16; Lk 3:11
23. Isaiah 58:7 : Isa 16:4; Heb 13:2
24. Isaiah 58:7 : Job 31:19-20; S Mt 25:36
25. Isaiah 58:7 : S Ge 29:14; Lk 10:31-32
26. Isaiah 58:8 : S Job 11:17; S Isa 9:2
27. Isaiah 58:8 : S Isa 1:5; S 30:26
28. Isaiah 58:8 : S Isa 26:2
29. Isaiah 58:8 : S Ex 14:19
30. Isaiah 58:9 : S Ps 50:15
31. Isaiah 58:9 : S Job 8:6; S Isa 30:19; Da 9:20; S Zec 10:6
32. Isaiah 58:9 : S Pr 6:13
33. Isaiah 58:9 : Ps 12:2; Isa 59:13
34. Isaiah 58:10 : Dt 15:7-8
35. Isaiah 58:10 : S Isa 42:16
36. Isaiah 58:10 : S Job 11:17
37. Isaiah 58:11 : S Ps 48:14; S Isa 42:16; S 48:17
38. Isaiah 58:11 : S Ps 104:28; S 107:9
39. Isaiah 58:11 : S Ps 68:6
40. Isaiah 58:11 : S Ps 72:16
41. Isaiah 58:11 : S SS 4:15
42. Isaiah 58:11 : S Isa 35:7; Jn 4:14
43. Isaiah 58:12 : S Isa 49:8
44. Isaiah 58:12 : S Isa 44:28
45. Isaiah 58:12 : Ne 2:17
46. Isaiah 58:13 : S Ex 20:8
47. Isaiah 58:13 : Ps 37:4; 42:4; 84:2, 10
48. Isaiah 58:13 : Isa 59:3
49. Isaiah 58:14 : S Job 22:26
50. Isaiah 58:14 : S Dt 32:13
51. Isaiah 58:14 : Ps 105:10-11
52. Isaiah 58:14 : S Isa 1:20

New International Version (NIV)

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