6. Is not this the fast that I will choose, to loosen bands of wickedness, to undo the fastenings of the yoke, and to send away the crushed (or broken) free, and every yoke ye shall break? 7. Is it not to break unto the hungry thy bread? and the afflicted, the homeless, thou shalt bring home; for thou shalt see one naked and shalt clothe him, and from thine own flesh thou shalt not hide thyself.
8. Then shall break forth as the dawn thy light, and thy healing speedily shall spring up; then shall go before thee thy righteousness, and the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rereward (or, bring up thy rear). 9. Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and He will say, Behold Me (here I am), if thou wilt put away from the midst of thee the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of vanity.
10. And (if) thou wilt let out thy soul to the hungry, and the afflicted soul will satisfy, then shall thy sight arise in the darkness, and thy gloom as the (double light or) noon. 11. And Jehovah will guide thee over, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and thy bones shall He invigorate, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters shall not fail. 12. And they shall build from thee the ruins of antiquity (or, perpetuity), foundations of age and age (i.e., of ages) shalt thou raise up: and it shall be called to thee (or, thou shalt be called) Repairer of the breach, Restorer of paths for dwelling.
13. If thou wilt turn away thy foot from the Sabbath to do thy pleasure on My holy day, and wilt call the Sabbath a delight (and) the holy (day) of Jehovah honourable, and wilt honour it by not doing thy own ways, by not finding thy pleasure and talking talk; 14. then shalt thou be happy in Jehovah, and I will make thee rule upon the heights of the earth, and I will make thee eat the heritage of Jacob thy father, for Jehovah’s mouth hath spoken it.
LIX.—[The fault of Israel’s rejection is not in the Lord, but in themselves, vers. 1, 2. They are charged with sins of violence and injustice, vers. 3, 4. The ruinous effects of these corruptions are described, vers. 5, 6. Their violence and injustice are fatal to themselves and to others, vers. 7, 8. The moral condition of the people is described as one of darkness and hopeless degradation, vers. 9–15. In this extremity, Jehovah interposes to deliver the true Israel, vers. 16, 17. This can only be effected by the destruction of the carnal Israel, vers. 18. The Divine presence shall no longer be subjected to local restrictions, vers. 19. A Redeemer shall appear in Zion to save the true Israel, vers. 20. The old dispensation shall give place to the dispensation of the Word and Spirit, which shall last for ever, ver. 21.]
1. Behold, not shortened is Jehovah’s hand from saving, and not benumbed is His ear from hearing. 2. But your iniquities have been separating between you and your God, and your sins have hid (His) face from you, so as not to hear.
3. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue will utter wickedness. 4. There is none calling with justice, and there is none contending with truth; they trust in vanity and speak falsehood, conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. 5. Eggs of the basilisk they have hatched, and webs of the spider they will spin (or, weave); the one eating their eggs shall die, and the crushed (egg) shall hatch out a viper. 6. The webs shall not become (or, be for) clothing, and they shall not cover themselves with their works: their works are works of mischief (or, iniquity), and the doing of violence is in their hands. 7. Their feet to evil will run, and they will hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of mischief (or, iniquity); wasting and ruin are in their paths. 8. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their paths; their courses they have rendered crooked for them; every one walking in them knows not peace.
9. Therefore is judgment far from us, and righteousness will not overtake us; we wait for light, and behold darkness; for splendours, (and) in obscurities we walk. 10. We grope like the blind for the wall, like the eyeless we grope; we stumble at noon-day as in twilight, in thick darkness like the dead. 11. We growl like the bears, all of us, and like the doves we moan; we wait for justice and there is none, for salvation (and) it is far from us. 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and our iniquities—we know them; 13. to transgress and lie against Jehovah, and to turn back from behind our God, to speak oppression and departure, to conceive and utter from the heart words of falsehood. 14. And judgment is thrust (or, driven) back, and righteousness afar off stands; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. 15. Then truth was missed (i.e., found wanting), and whoso departed from evil made himself a prey (or, was plundered).
Then Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no judgment (or, practical justice). 16. And He saw that there was no man, and He stood aghast that there was no one interposing; and His own arm saved for Him, and His own righteousness, it upheld Him. 17. And He clothed Himself with righteousness as a coat of mail, and a helmet of salvation on His head, and He clothed Himself with garments of vengeance (for) clothing. 18. According to (their) deeds, according will He repay, wrath to His enemies, (their) desert to His foes, to the isles (their) desert will He repay. 19. And they shall fear from the west the name of Jehovah, and from the rising of the sun His glory; for it shall come like a straitened stream, the spirit of Jehovah raising a banner in it.
20. Then shall come for Zion a Redeemer, and for the converts from apostasy in Jacob, saith Jehovah. 21. And I (or, as for me)—this (is) My covenant with them, saith Jehovah. My Spirit which is on thee, and My words which I have placed in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever (or, from now and to eternity).