Isaiah 58 - Amplified Bible(AMP)

Observances of Fasts

1“Cry aloud, do not hold back;

Lift up your voice like a trumpet,

And declare to My people their transgression

And to the house of Jacob their sins.

2“Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,

As a nation that has done righteousness

And has not abandoned (turned away from) the ordinance of their God.

They ask of Me righteous judgments,

They delight in the nearness of God.

3‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You do not see it?

Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’

Hear this, on the day of your fast you find something you desire,

And you force your hired servants to work.

4“The facts are that you fast only for strife and brawling and to strike with the fist of wickedness.

You do not fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high.

5“Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it only to bow down his head like a reed

And to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed?

Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?

6“[Rather] is this not the fast which I choose,

To undo the bonds of wickedness,

To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke,

To let the oppressed go free

And break apart every yoke?

7“Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry

And bring the homeless poor into the house;

When you see the naked, that you cover him,

And not to hide yourself from your own flesh and blood?

8“Then your light will break out like the dawn,

And your healing (restoration, new life) will quickly spring forth;

Your righteousness will go before you,

The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

9“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you take away from your midst the yoke,

The finger pointed in scorn, and wicked (sinful, unjust) speech,

10And if you offer yourself to the hungry

And satisfy the need of the afflicted,

Then your light will rise in darkness

And your gloom will become like midday.

11“And the Lord will continually guide you,

And satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

12“And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations;

You will be called Repairer of the Breach,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

Keeping the Sabbath

13¶“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,

From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,

And call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable,

And honor it, not going your own way

Or engaging in your own pleasure

Or speaking your own words,

14Then you will take pleasure in the Lord,

And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth,

And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”