Isaiah 58:5-7

Context

58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want?¹

Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves,²

bowing their heads like a reed

and stretching out³ on sackcloth and ashes?

Is this really what you call a fast,

a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want.⁴

I want you⁵ to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed,⁶

and to break every burdensome yoke.

58:7 I want you⁷ to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people.⁸

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood!⁹

[58:5] ¹tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

[58:5] ²tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:5] ³tn Or “making [their] bed.”

[58:6] ⁴tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6] ⁵tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6] ⁶tn Heb “crushed.”

[58:7] ⁷tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7] ⁸tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7] ⁹tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”