The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 58 -

Cry out! Cease not! Exalt your voice like a trumpet, and announce to my people their wicked acts, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

For they also seek me, from day to day, and they are willing to know my ways, like a nation which has done justice and has not abandoned the judgment of their God. They petition me for judgments of justice. They are willing to draw near to God.

“Why have we fasted, and you have not taken notice? Why have we humbled our souls, and you have not acknowledged it?” Behold, in the day of your fasting, your own will is found, and you petition for payment from all your debtors.

Behold, you fast with strife and contention, and you strike with the fist impiously. Do not choose to fast as you have done even to this day. Then your outcry will be heard on high.

Is this a fast such as I have chosen: for a man to afflict his soul for a day, to contort his head in a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? Should you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this, instead, the kind of fast that I have chosen? Release the constraints of impiety; relieve the burdens that oppress; freely forgive those who are broken; and break apart every burden.

Break your bread with the hungry, and lead the destitute and the homeless into your house. When you see someone naked, cover him, and do not despise your own flesh.

Then your light will break forth like the morning, and your health will improve quickly, and your justice will go before your face, and the glory of the Lord will gather you up.

Then you will call, and the Lord will heed; you will cry out, and he will say, “Here I am,” if you take away the chains from your midst, and cease to point your finger and to speak what is not beneficial.

When you pour out your life for the hungry, and you satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise up in darkness, and your darkness will be like the midday.

And the Lord will give you rest continually, and he will fill your soul with splendor, and he will free your bones, and you will be like a watered garden and like a fountain of water whose waters will not fail.

And places that have been desolate for ages will be built up by you. You will raise a foundation for generation after generation. And you will be called the repairer of hedges, who turns the roadways into quiet places.

If you restrain your foot on the Sabbath, from doing your own will on my holy day, and if you call the Sabbath delightful, and the Holy of the Lord glorious, and if you glorify him, while you do not act according to your own ways, and your own will is not found, not even to speak a word,

then you will find delight in the Lord, and I will take you up, above the heights of the earth, and I will nourish you with the inheritance of Jacob, your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

“Cry aloud! Don’t spare! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways. As a nation that did righteousness, and didn’t forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to God.

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and oppress all your laborers.

Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to humble his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

“Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?

Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you, and the LORD’s glory will be your rear guard.

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 among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly;

and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday;

and the LORD will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail.

Those who will be of you will build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations. You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths with Dwellings.

“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of the LORD honorable, and honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,

then you will delight yourself in the LORD, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;” for the LORD’s mouth has spoken it.