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False and True Worship

Shout out, do not hold back!

Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion,

to the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet day after day they seek me

and delight to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness

and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;

they ask of me righteous judgments,

they delight to draw near to God.

“Why do we fast, but you do not see?

Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,

and oppress all your workers.

Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight

and to strike with a wicked fist.

Such fasting as you do today

will not make your voice heard on high.

Is such the fast that I choose,

a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,

and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast,

a day acceptable to the L ord?

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator shall go before you,

the glory of the L ord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the L ord will answer;

you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,

the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

if you offer your food to the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,

then your light shall rise in the darkness

and your gloom be like the noonday.

The L ord will guide you continually,

and satisfy your needs in parched places,

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters never fail.

Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to live in.

If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,

from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;

if you call the sabbath a delight

and the holy day of the L ord honorable;

if you honor it, not going your own ways,

serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;

then you shall take delight in the L ord,

and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;

I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,

for the mouth of the L ord has spoken.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

14. Then wilt thou delight in Jehovah. He appears to allude to the word delight in the preceding verse; for the verb תתעגג (tithgnanneg) which the Prophet employs, is derived from the same root as עגג (gnoneg) which he formerly used, when he said that the Lord takes the highest delight in the true observation of the Sabbath. In a word, he means that the people take no delight in God, because they provoke him, and do not obey his will; for if we framed our life in obedience to God, we should be his delight, and, on the other hand, he would be our delight. Thus he affirms that it is owing entirely to the Jews themselves that they do not, by relying on a reconciled God, lead a cheerful and joyful life. By these words he indirectly reproaches them with bringing upon themselves, by their own fault, many calamities.

And I will cause thee to ride on the high places of the earth. By these words he promises a return to their native country, and a safe habitation in it. We know that Judea was situated on a lofty place above the neighboring countries; while the situation of Babylon was much lower, so that the people trembled as if they had been shut up in a cave. He next tells more plainly what he meant by the word ride ¹²⁷¹²⁷ “The word ride is borrowed from a powerful conqueror, who, riding on a horse or in a chariot, while carrying on battle, seizes mountains, hills, citadels, castles, fortifications, and subjects them to his donfinion. By ‘high places of the earth,’ he means what I have just now enumerated, lofty places difficult of ascent, on which citadels and fortresses are commonly situated, and the storming and seizing of which brings applause to the conqueror. See Deuteronomy 32:13.” Vitringa.
“The whole phrase is descriptive, not of a mere return to Palestine, the highest of all lands (Kimchi), nor of more security from enenfies by being placed beyond their reach (Vitringa), but of conquest and triumphant possession, as in Deuteronomy 32:13, from which the expression is derived by all the later writers who employ it.” Alexander. for he promises the possession of that country which had been promised and given to the fathers, ¹²⁸¹²⁸ “To eat the heritage is to enjoy it, and derive subsistence from it. Kimchi correctly says that it is called the heritage of Jacob, as distinct from that of Ishmael and Esau, although equally descended from the father of the faithful.” Alexander. and which they at that time enjoyed, and of which they were afterwards deprived for a time.

For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. He added this, that they might know, beyond all controversy, that all these things were true; and this must be viewed as referring not only to those promises, but likewise to the beginning of the chapter. For he rebuked hypocrites, who thought that they were defending themselves in a just cause, and showed that they were suffering the just punishment of their sins; and that it was in vain to contend with God, and to bring forward in opposition to him their own works, which were altogether empty and worthless. On that account he brings them back to the true observation of the Sabbath, and shows that it will be well with them, if they shall worship God in a right manner. At length he concludes that they have not to deal with a mortal man, but that he who pronounces these things is God the Judge.

¹²⁷ “The word ride is borrowed from a powerful conqueror, who, riding on a horse or in a chariot, while carrying on battle, seizes mountains, hills, citadels, castles, fortifications, and subjects them to his donfinion. By ‘high places of the earth,’ he means what I have just now enumerated, lofty places difficult of ascent, on which citadels and fortresses are commonly situated, and the storming and seizing of which brings applause to the conqueror. See Deuteronomy 32:13.” Vitringa. “The whole phrase is descriptive, not of a mere return to Palestine, the highest of all lands (Kimchi), nor of more security from enenfies by being placed beyond their reach (Vitringa), but of conquest and triumphant possession, as in Deuteronomy 32:13, from which the expression is derived by all the later writers who employ it.” Alexander.

¹²⁸ “To eat the heritage is to enjoy it, and derive subsistence from it. Kimchi correctly says that it is called the heritage of Jacob, as distinct from that of Ishmael and Esau, although equally descended from the father of the faithful.” Alexander.