Discovery BoxIsaiah 58:4-6 
Context58:4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by 1 arguments, brawls,
and fistfights. 2
Do not fast as you do today,
trying to make your voice heard in heaven.
58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? 3
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, 4
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out 5 on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord?
58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. 6
I want you 7 to remove the sinful chains,
to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,
to set free the oppressed, 8
and to break every burdensome yoke.
1 tn Heb “you fast for” (so NASB); NRSV “you fast only to quarrel.”
2 tn Heb “and for striking with a sinful fist.”
3 tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”
4 tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Or “making [their] bed.”
6 tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
7 tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “crushed.”
