Isaiah 58:5 · KJV
“Is 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?}”
— Isaiah 58:5
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}
{Is} not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? {the heavy...: Heb. the bundles of the yoke} {oppressed: Heb. broken}
Isaiah 58 — Context
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}
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?}
6{Is} not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? {the heavy...: Heb. the bundles of the yoke} {oppressed: Heb. broken}
7{Is it} not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? {cast...: or, afflicted}
Cross References
Daniel 9:3-19
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Zechariah 7:5
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh {month}, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, {even} to me?
Isaiah 49:8
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; {establish: or, raise up}
Isaiah 61:2
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what {is} that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Esther 4:16
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which {is} not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. {present: Heb. found}
2 Chronicles 20:3
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. {himself: Heb. his face}
Luke 4:19
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.