44:19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire –
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’ 1
58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? 2
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, 3
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out 4 on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord?
66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, 5 those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice 6 – they will all be destroyed together,” 7 says the Lord.
1 tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.
2 tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”
3 tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Or “making [their] bed.”
5 tn Heb “the ones who consecrate themselves and the ones who purify themselves toward the orchards [or “gardens”] after the one in the midst.” The precise meaning of the statement is unclear, though it is obvious that some form of idolatry is in view.
6 tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”
7 tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”