Isaiah 58:7-9

58:7 I want you ¹  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ² 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ³ 

58:8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; ⁴ 

your restoration will quickly arrive; ⁵ 

your godly behavior ⁶  will go before you,

and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. ⁷ 

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 ⁸  remove the burdensome yoke from among you

and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.

[58:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[58:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “will burst out like the dawn.”

[58:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “prosper”; KJV “spring forth speedily.”

[58:8]  ⁶ tn Or “righteousness.” Their godly behavior will be on display for all to see.

[58:8]  ⁷ sn The nation will experience God’s protective presence.

[58:9]  ⁷ 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.