58:13 You must 4 observe the Sabbath 5
rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. 6
You must look forward to the Sabbath 7
and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. 8
You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,
and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. 9
1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless 10 offerings;
I consider your incense detestable! 11
You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,
but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! 12
56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, 13
the people who commit themselves to obedience, 14
who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,
who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. 15
56:4 For this is what the Lord says:
“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths
and choose what pleases me
and are faithful to 16 my covenant,
56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of 17 the Lord and serve him,
who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –
all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,
and who are faithful to 18 my covenant –
1 tn Heb “new moon.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
2 tn Heb “all flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NAB, NASB, NIV “all mankind”; NLT “All humanity.”
3 tn Or “bow down before” (NASB).
4 tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.
5 tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”
6 tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”
7 tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”
8 tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).
9 tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).
7 tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”
8 sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).
9 tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).
10 tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”
11 tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”
12 tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
13 tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”
16 tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”
17 tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”