Isaiah 58:6-10

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ¹ 

I want you ²  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ³ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

58:7 I want you ⁴  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ⁵ 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ⁶ 

58:8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; ⁷ 

your restoration will quickly arrive; ⁸ 

your godly behavior ⁹  will go before you,

and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. ¹⁰ 

58:9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond;

you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’

You must ¹¹  remove the burdensome yoke from among you

and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.

58:10 You must ¹²  actively help the hungry

and feed the oppressed. ¹³ 

Then your light will dispel the darkness, ¹⁴ 

and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ¹⁵ 

[58:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ² tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ³ tn Heb “crushed.”

[58:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ⁵ tn 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[58:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “will burst out like the dawn.”

[58:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “prosper”; KJV “spring forth speedily.”

[58:8]  ⁹ tn Or “righteousness.” Their godly behavior will be on display for all to see.

[58:8]  ¹⁰ sn The nation will experience God’s protective presence.

[58:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 9b-10 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in vv. 9b-10a), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 10b.

[58:10]  ¹² tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.

[58:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”

[58:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”

[58:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”