Isaiah · 14 verses
Isaiah 58
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The people ask why their fast has gone unseen, while the fast itself is busy oppressing workers and throwing fists.
A fast with fistsvv. 1–4
The summons begins like a trumpet blast: the people are to hear their transgression plainly. They seek God day after day and delight in knowing his ways, yet their fast has acquired an unfortunate side business—doing as they please, oppressing workers, and turning contention into blows. Their complaint about being unnoticed is answered by the spectacle of the fast itself.
The fast chosenvv. 5–12
The fast God has chosen is not merely a bowed head, sackcloth, and ashes. It breaks wicked chains, unties the yoke, frees the oppressed, feeds the hungry, shelters the poor and homeless, clothes the naked, and does not turn away from one’s own flesh and blood. Then the chapter unfurls its splendid morning: light, healing, guidance, gardens, springs, and a people rebuilding ancient ruins, with the rather grand titles Repairer of the Breach and Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.
The holy dayvv. 13–14
The final turn is toward the Sabbath. Its honour lies in not going one’s own way, seeking one’s own pleasure, or speaking idle words; the day is to be called a delight. The reward is delight in the LORD, riding on the heights of the land, and feeding on the heritage of Jacob. The chapter closes with the LORD’s mouth supplying the seal, which is admirably difficult to argue with.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Isa 58:1“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Isa 58:2For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”
Isa 58:3“Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.
Isa 58:4You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high.
Isa 58:5Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?
Isa 58:6Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?
Isa 58:7Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Isa 58:8Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Isa 58:9Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,
Isa 58:10and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.
Isa 58:11The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Isa 58:12Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.
Isa 58:13If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,
Isa 58:14then you will delight yourself in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 261 passages were voted onto 14 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 11John 4:14But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
- 8Isaiah 52:12For you will not leave in a hurry nor flee in haste, for the LORD goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
- 8Jeremiah 33:6Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
- 8Psalms 37:6He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun.
- 8Jeremiah 30:17But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
- 11Jeremiah 31:12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.
- 8Psalms 85:13Righteousness will go before Him to prepare the way for His steps.
- 8Malachi 4:2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
- 11Psalms 32:8I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.
- 11Isaiah 49:10They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
- 13Jeremiah 17:21–27This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
- 8Acts 10:35but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.
- 8Exodus 14:19And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
- 8Proverbs 4:18The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
- 8Job 11:17Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.
- 11John 16:13However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.
Onward