LVIII. 1 Cry with the throat, withhold not, raise thy voice like a trumpet, and tell my people their rebellion, and the house of Jacob their sins. ’

2 And (yet) they inquire of me day by day, and take pleasure in the knowledge of my, ways; as a nation that hath done righteousness, and not forsaken the judgment of its God; they ask of me the judgments of righteousness; they take pleasure in drawing near to God.

3 Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not? afflited our soul, and thou knowest not? Behold, in the day of your fast ye ﬁnd pleasure, and exact all your tasks.

4 Behold, ye fast for contention and quarrel, and to smite with the ﬁst of wickedness; ye shall not fast as to-day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

5 Shall such be the fast I will choose? a day of man's afflicting his soul? is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and spread out sackcloth and ashes (as a bed)? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the-LORD?

17. ‘smote,’ imperf. ; perhaps, ‘kept smiting.19. ‘Creating’: participle, construction doubtful.21. ‘saith the Lord,' several MSS3. 'pleasure ’: or, 'will,' ‘bent’: according to some, ‘business.’ Cf. Some render the last clause, ‘and oppress all your labourers.4. Or, ‘ye do not fast to-day so as to make your voice heard...5. 'acceptable,' lit. ‘ of acceptance.’

6 Is not this the fast that I will choose? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, and to let the crushed go free, and that ye should break every yoke?

7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring afflicted outcasts home? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and hide not thyself from thine own ﬂesh?

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the dawn, and thy healing shall spring up speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee, the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou remove from the midst of thee the yoke, the pointing of the ﬁnger, and speaking iniquity:

10 And furnish thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul ; then shall thy light arise in the darkness, and thy gloom be as the noonday:

11 And the LORD shall lead thee perpetually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, ahd like a spring of water whose waters fail not.

12 And they that are of thee shall build up ruins of old time: thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation upon generation; and thou shalt be called Repairer of the breach, Restorer of paths to dwell in.

10. ‘furnish thy soul,' i.e. ‘thy desire.' ‘then,’ Heb. ‘and,’ marking principal clause. ‘arise,’ or, ‘be bright': ‘noonday,’ plur. in11. ‘in dry places’: or, ‘in droughts.' Some render, ‘enrich’ or ‘make fat thy bones.' ‘fail’: or, ‘deceive (i.e. disappoint) not.12. ‘they that are of thee': some propose to emend, 'thy sons': but this (which resembles wordfor build up) seems needless.

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, as to doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy (day) of the LORD honourable; and honour it, not doing thine own ways, not ﬁnding thine own pleasure, nor speaking words:

14 Then shalt thou have thy delight in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the heights of the earth, and to eat the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.