Isaiah 58:3 · KJV
“Wherefore have we fasted, {say they}, and thou seest not? {wherefore} have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. {labours: or, things wherewith ye grieve others: Heb. griefs}”
— Isaiah 58:3
Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as {ye do this} day, to make your voice to be heard on high. {ye shall...: or, ye fast not as this day}
Isaiah 58 — Context
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. {aloud: Heb. with the throat}
2Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
3Wherefore have we fasted, {say they}, and thou seest not? {wherefore} have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. {labours: or, things wherewith ye grieve others: Heb. griefs}
4Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as {ye do this} day, to make your voice to be heard on high. {ye shall...: or, ye fast not as this day}
5Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? {is it} to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes {under him}? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? {a day...: or, to afflict his soul for a day?}
Cross References
Luke 18:9-12
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: {that...: or, as being righteous}
Malachi 3:14
Ye have said, It {is} vain to serve God: and what profit {is it} that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? {ordinance: Heb. observation} {mournfully: Heb. in black}
Leviticus 16:29
And {this} shall be a statute for ever unto you: {that} in the seventh month, on the tenth {day} of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, {whether it be} one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
Proverbs 28:9
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer {shall be} abomination.
Matthew 20:11-12
And when they had received {it}, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Jonah 3:6-8
For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered {him} with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Nehemiah 5:7
Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. {I consulted...: Heb. my heart consulted in me}
Isaiah 22:13
And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.