58Isaiah 58

CHAP. LVIII. / 1 The Prophet being sent to reprooue hypocrisie, 3 expresseth a counterfeit fast, and a true. 8 He declareth what promises are due vnto godlinesse, 13 and to the keeping of the Sabbath.

1Crie aloude, spare not, lift vp thy voice like a trumpet, and shewe my people their transgression, & the house of Iacob their sins.Select Isaiah 58:1

2Yet they seeke mee daily, and delight to know my wayes, as a nation that did righteousnesse, and forsooke not the ordinance of their God: they aske of me the ordinances of iustice: they take delight in approching to God.Select Isaiah 58:2

3Wherefore haue wee fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore haue wee afflicted our soule, & thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labours.Select Isaiah 58:3

4Behold, yee fast for strife and debate; and to smite with the fist of wickednesse, yee shall not fast as yee doe this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.Select Isaiah 58:4

5Is it such a fast that I haue chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soule? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackecloth and ashes vnder him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?Select Isaiah 58:5

6Is not this the fast that I haue chosen? to loose the bandes of wickednesse, to vndoe the heauie burdens, and to let the oppressed goe free, and that ye breake euery yoke?Select Isaiah 58:6

7Is it not, to deale thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poore that are cast out, to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou couer him, and that thou hide not thy selfe from thine owne flesh?Select Isaiah 58:7

8Then shall thy light breake foorth as the morning, and thine health shall spring foorth speedily: and thy righteousnesse shall goe before thee, the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.Select Isaiah 58:8

9Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answere; thou shalt cry, and he shal say, Here I am: if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanitie:Select Isaiah 58:9

10And if thou draw out thy soule to the hungry, and satisfie the afflicted soule: then shall thy light rise in obscuritie, and thy darkenesse be as the noone day.Select Isaiah 58:10

11And the Lord shal guide thee continually, and satisfie thy soule in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters faile not.Select Isaiah 58:11

12And they that shall be of thee, shall builde the olde waste places: thou shalt raise vp the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.Select Isaiah 58:12

13If thou turne away thy foote from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my Holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour him, not doing thine owne wayes, nor finding thine owne pleasure, nor speaking thine owne wordes:Select Isaiah 58:13

14Then shalt thou delight thy selfe in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride vpon the high places of the earth, and feede thee with the heritage of Iacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.Select Isaiah 58:14