Chapter 58

Observances of Fasts

1 “aCry loudly, do not hold back;

Raise your voice like a trumpet,

And declare to My people their btransgression

And to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 “Yet they aseek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,

As a nation that has done brighteousness

And chas not forsaken the ordinance of their God.

They ask Me for just decisions,

They delight din the nearness of God.

3 ‘Why have we afasted and You do not see?

Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not 1notice?’

Behold, on the bday of your fast you find your desire,

And drive hard all your workers.

4 “Behold, you fast for contention and astrife and to strike with a wicked fist.

You do not fast like you do today to bmake your voice heard on high.

5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it for bowing 1one’s head like a reed

And for spreading out asackcloth and ashes as a bed?

Will you call this a fast, even an bacceptable day to the Lord?

6 “Is this not the fast which I choose,

To aloosen the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the bands of the yoke,

And to blet the oppressed go free

And cbreak every yoke?

7 “Is it not to adivide your bread 1with the hungry

And bbring the homeless poor into the house;

When you see the cnaked, to cover him;

And not to dhide yourself from your own flesh?

8 “Then your alight will break out like the dawn,

And your brecovery will speedily spring forth;

And your crighteousness will go before you;

The glory of the dLord will be your rear guard.

9 “Then you will acall, and the Lord will answer;

You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you bremove the yoke from your midst,

The 1cpointing of the finger and dspeaking wickedness,

10 And if you 1agive yourself to the hungry

And satisfy the 2desire of the afflicted,

Then your blight will rise in darkness

And your gloom will become like midday.

11 “And the aLord will continually guide you,

And bsatisfy your 1desire in scorched places,

And cgive strength to your bones;

And you will be like a dwatered garden,

And like a espring of water whose waters do not 2fail.

12 “Those from among you will arebuild the ancient ruins;

You will braise up the age-old foundations;

And you will be called the repairer of the cbreach,

The restorer of the 1streets in which to dwell.

Keeping the Sabbath

13 “If because of the sabbath, you aturn your foot

From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,

And call the sabbath a bdelight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,

And honor it, desisting from your cown ways,

From seeking your own pleasure

And dspeaking your own word,

14 Then you will take adelight in the Lord,

And I will make you ride bon the heights of the earth;

And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,

For the cmouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Chapter 59

Separation from God

1 Behold, athe Lord’s hand is not so short

That it cannot save;

bNor is His ear so dull

That it cannot hear.

2 But your ainiquities have made a separation between you and your God,

And your sins have hidden His 1face from you so that He does bnot hear.

3 For your ahands are defiled with blood

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken bfalsehood,

Your tongue mutters wickedness.

4 aNo one sues righteously and bno one pleads 1honestly.

They ctrust in confusion and speak lies;

They dconceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

5 They hatch adders’ eggs and aweave the spider’s web;

He who eats of their eggs dies,

And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.

6 Their webs will not become clothing,

Nor will they acover themselves with their works;

Their bworks are works of iniquity,

And an cact of violence is in their 1hands.

7 aTheir feet run to evil,

And they hasten to shed innocent blood;

bTheir thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,

Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

8 They do not know the away of peace,

And there is bno justice in their tracks;

They have made their paths crooked,

cWhoever treads on 1them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

9 Therefore ajustice is far from us,

And righteousness does not overtake us;

We bhope for light, but behold, darkness,

For brightness, but we walk in gloom.

10 We agrope along the wall like blind men,

We grope like those who have no eyes;

We bstumble at midday as in the twilight,

Among those who are vigorous we are clike dead men.

11 All of us growl like bears,

And amoan sadly like doves;

We hope for bjustice, but there is none,

For salvation, but it is far from us.

12 For our atransgressions are multiplied before You,

And our bsins 1testify against us;

For our transgressions are with us,

And 2we know our iniquities:

13 Transgressing and adenying the Lord,

And turning away from our God,

Speaking boppression and revolt,

Conceiving in and cuttering from the heart lying words.

14 aJustice is turned back,

And brighteousness stands far away;

For truth has stumbled in the street,

And uprightness cannot enter.

15 Yes, truth is lacking;

And he who turns aside from evil amakes himself a prey.

Now the Lord saw,

And it was 1displeasing in His sight bthat there was no justice.

16 And He saw that there was ano man,

And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;

Then His bown arm brought salvation to Him,

And His righteousness upheld Him.

17 He put on arighteousness like a breastplate,

And a bhelmet of salvation on His head;

And He put on cgarments of vengeance for clothing

And wrapped Himself with dzeal as a mantle.

18 aAccording to their 1deeds, 2so He will repay,

Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;

To the coastlands He will 3make recompense.

19 So they will fear the name of the Lord from the awest

And His glory from the brising of the sun,

For He will ccome like a 1rushing stream

Which the wind of the Lord drives.

20 “A aRedeemer will come to Zion,

And to those who bturn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.

21 “As for Me, this is My acovenant with them,” says the Lord: “My bSpirit which is upon you, and My cwords which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your 1offspring, nor from the mouth of your 1offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

Chapter 60

A Glorified Zion

1 “aArise, shine; for your blight has come,

And the cglory of the Lord has risen upon you.

2 “For behold, adarkness will cover the earth

And deep darkness the peoples;

But the Lord will rise upon you

And His bglory will appear upon you.

3 “aNations will come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

4 “aLift up your eyes round about and see;

They all gather together, they bcome to you.

Your sons will come from afar,

And your cdaughters will be 1carried in the arms.

5 “Then you will see and be aradiant,

And your heart will 1thrill and rejoice;

Because the babundance of the sea will be turned to you,

The cwealth of the nations will come to you.

6 “A multitude of camels will cover you,

The young camels of Midian and aEphah;

All those from bSheba will come;

They will bring cgold and frankincense,

And will dbear good news of the praises of the Lord.

7 “All the flocks of aKedar will be gathered together to you,

The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you;

They will go up with acceptance on My baltar,

And I shall 1cglorify My 2glorious house.

8 “aWho are these who fly like a cloud

And like the doves to their 1lattices?

9 “Surely the acoastlands will wait for Me;

And the bships of Tarshish will come first,

To cbring your sons from afar,

Their silver and their gold with them,

For the name of the Lord your God,

And for the Holy One of Israel because He has 1dglorified you.

10 “aForeigners will build up your walls,

And their bkings will minister to you;

For in My cwrath I struck you,

And in My favor I have had compassion on you.

11 “Your agates will be open continually;

They will not be closed day or night,

So that men may bbring to you the wealth of the nations,

With ctheir kings led in procession.

12 “For the anation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish,

And the nations will be utterly ruined.

13 “The aglory of Lebanon will come to you,

The bjuniper, the box tree and the cypress together,

To beautify the place of My sanctuary;

And I shall make the cplace of My feet glorious.

14 “The asons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you,

And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet;

And they will call you the bcity of the Lord,

The cZion of the Holy One of Israel.

15 “Whereas you have been aforsaken and bhated

With no one passing through,

I will make you an everlasting cpride,

A joy from generation to generation.

16 “You will also asuck the milk of nations

And suck the breast of kings;

Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your bSavior

And your cRedeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

17 “Instead of bronze I will bring gold,

And instead of iron I will bring silver,

And instead of wood, bronze,

And instead of stones, iron.

And I will make peace your administrators

And righteousness your overseers.

18 “aViolence will not be heard again in your land,

Nor bdevastation or destruction within your borders;

But you will call your cwalls salvation, and your dgates praise.

19 “No longer will you have the asun for light by day,

Nor for brightness will the moon give you light;

But you will have the bLord for an everlasting light,

And your cGod for your 1glory.

20 “Your asun will no longer set,

Nor will your moon wane;

For you will have the Lord for an everlasting light,

And the days of your bmourning will be over.

21 “Then all your apeople will be righteous;

They will bpossess the land forever,

The branch of 1My planting,

The cwork of My hands,

That I may be dglorified.

22 “The asmallest one will become a 1clan,

And the least one a mighty nation.

I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.”

Chapter 61

Exaltation of the Afflicted

1 The aSpirit of the Lord 1God is upon me,

Because the Lord has anointed me

To bbring good news to the 2cafflicted;

He has sent me to dbind up the brokenhearted,

To eproclaim liberty to captives

And 3freedom to prisoners;

2 To aproclaim the favorable year of the Lord

And the bday of vengeance of our God;

To ccomfort all who mourn,

3 To agrant those who mourn in Zion,

Giving them a garland instead of ashes,

The boil of gladness instead of mourning,

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

So they will be called 1coaks of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

4 Then they will arebuild the ancient ruins,

They will raise up the former devastations;

And they will repair the ruined cities,

The desolations of many generations.

5 aStrangers will stand and pasture your flocks,

And 1foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.

6 But you will be called the apriests of the Lord;

You will be spoken of as bministers of our God.

You will eat the cwealth of nations,

And in their 1riches you will boast.

7 Instead of your ashame you will have a bdouble portion,

And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.

Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,

cEverlasting joy will be theirs.

8 For I, the Lord, alove justice,

I hate robbery 1in the burnt offering;

And I will faithfully give them their recompense

And make an beverlasting covenant with them.

9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations,

And their descendants in the midst of the peoples.

All who see them will recognize them

Because they are the aoffspring whom the Lord has blessed.

10 I will arejoice greatly in the Lord,

My soul will exult in bmy God;

For He has cclothed me with garments of salvation,

He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,

As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

And das a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the aearth brings forth its sprouts,

And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,

So the Lord 1God will bcause crighteousness and praise

To spring up before all the nations.

Chapter 62

Zion’s Glory and New Name

1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,

Until her arighteousness goes forth like brightness,

And her bsalvation like a torch that is burning.

2 The anations will see your righteousness,

And all kings your glory;

And you will be called by a new bname

Which the mouth of the Lord will designate.

3 You will also be a acrown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

And a royal 1diadem in the hand of your God.

4 It will no longer be said to you, “1aForsaken,”

Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “2Desolate”;

But you will be called, “3My delight is in her,”

And your land, “4bMarried”;

For the cLord delights in you,

And to Him your land will be married.

5 For as a young man marries a virgin,

So your sons will marry you;

And as the 1bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

So your aGod will rejoice over you.

6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed awatchmen;

All day and all night they will never keep silent.

You who bremind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves;

7 And agive Him no rest until He establishes

And makes bJerusalem a praise in the earth.

8 aThe Lord has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm,

“I will bnever again give your grain as food for your enemies;

Nor will 1foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.”

9 But those who agarner it will eat it and praise the Lord;

And those who gather it will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.

10 Go through, ago through the gates,

Clear the way 1for the people;

bBuild up, build up the chighway,

Remove the stones, lift up a dstandard over the peoples.

11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the aend of the earth,

bSay to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your csalvation comes;

dBehold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”

12 And they will call them, “aThe holy people,

The bredeemed of the Lord”;

And you will be called, “Sought out, a city cnot forsaken.”