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Selected Verse: Isaiah 58:5 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 58:5	Strong Concordance	Is it such a fast [06685] that I have chosen [0977]? a day [03117] for a man [0120] to afflict [06031] his soul [05315]? is it to bow down [03721] his head [07218] as a bulrush [0100], and to spread [03331] sackcloth [08242] and ashes [0665] under him? wilt thou call [07121] this [02088] a fast [06685], and an acceptable [07522] day [03117] to the LORD [03068]?
	King James	Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
for a man to afflict his soul--The pain felt by abstinence is not the end to be sought, as if it were meritorious; it is of value only in so far as it leads us to amend our ways (Isa 58:6-7). bow . . . head . . . sackcloth--to affect the outward tokens, so as to "appear to men to fast" (Mat 6:17-18; Kg1 21:27; Est 4:3).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

for a man to afflict his soul--The pain felt by abstinence is not the end to be sought, as if it were meritorious; it is of value only in so far as it leads us to amend our ways (Isa 58:6-7).

bow . . . head . . . sackcloth--to affect the outward tokens, so as to "appear to men to fast" (Mat 6:17-18; Kg1 21:27; Est 4:3).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Is it such a fast that I have chosen? - Is this such a mode of fasting as I have appointed and as I approve? A day for a man to afflict his soul? - Margin, 'To afflict his soul for a day.' The reading in the text is the more correct; and the idea is, that the pain and inconvenience experienced by the abstinence from food was not the end in view in fasting. This seems to have been the mistake which they made, that they supposed there was something meritorious in the very pain incurred by such abstinence. Is there not danger of this now? Do we not often feel that there is something meritorious in the very inconveniences which we suffer in our acts of self denial? The important idea in the passage before us is, that the pain and inconvenience which we may endure by the most rigid fasting are not meritorious in the sight of God. They are not that at which he aims by the appointment of fasting. He aims at justice, truth, benevolence, holiness Isa 58:6-7; and he esteems the act of fasting to be of value only as it will be the means of leading us to reflect on our faults, and to amend our lives. Is it to bow down his head - A bulrush is the large reed that grows in marshy places. It is, says Johnson, without knots or joints. In the midst of water it grows luxuriantly, yet the stalk is not solid or compact like wood, and, being unsupported by joints, it easily bends over under its own weight. it thus becomes the emblem of a man bowed down with grief. Here it refers to the sanctimoniousness of a hypocrite when fasting - a man without real feeling who puts on an air of affected solemnity, and 'appears to others to fast.' Against that the Saviour warned his disciples, and directed them, when they fasted, to do it in their ordinary dress, and to maintain an aspect of cheerfulness Mat 6:17-18. The hypocrites in the time of Isaiah seemed to have supposed that the object was gained if they assumed this affected seriousness. How much danger is there of this now! How often do even Christians assume, on all the more solemn occasions of religious observance, a forced sanctimoniousness of manner; a demure and dejected air; nay, an appearance of melancholy - which is often understood by the worm to be misanthropy, and which easily slides into misanthropy! Against this we should guard. Nothing more injures the cause of religion than sanctimoniousness, gloom, reserve, coldness, and the conduct and deportment which, whether right or wrong, will be construed by those around us as misanthropy. Be it not forgotten that the seriousness which religion produces is always consistent with cheerfulness, and is always accompanied by benevolence; and the moment we feel that our religious acts consist in merely bowing down the head like a bulrush, that moment we may be sure we shall do injury to all with whom we come in contact. And to spread sackcloth and ashes under him - On the meaning of the word 'sackcloth,' see the notes at Isa 3:24. It was commonly worn around the loins in times of fasting and of any public or private calamity. It was also customary to sit on sackcloth, or to spread it under one either to lie on, or to kneel on in times of prayer, as an expression of humiliation. Thus in Est 4:3, it is said. 'and many lay on sackcloth and ashes:' or, as it is in the margin, 'sackcloth and ashes were laid under many;' (compare Kg1 21:27). A passage in Josephus strongly confirms this, in which he describes the deep concern of the Jews for the danger of Herod Agrippa, after having been stricken suddenly with a violent disorder in the theater of Caesarea. 'Upon the news of his danger, immediately the multitude, with their wives and children, "sitting upon sackcloth according to their country rites," prayed for the king; all places were filled with wailing and lamentation; while the king, who lay in an upper room, beholding the people below thus falling prostrate on the ground, could not himself refrain from tears' (Antiq. xix. 8. 2). We wear crape - but for a somewhat different object. With us it is a mere sign of grief; but the wearing of sackcloth or sitting on it was not a mere sign of grief, but was regarded as tending to produce humiliation and mortification. Ashes also were a symbol of grief and sorrow. The wearing of sackcloth was usually accompanied with ashes Dan 9:3; Est 4:1, Est 4:3. Penitents, or those in affliction, either sat down on the ground in dust and ashes Job 2:8; Job 42:6; Jon 3:6; or they put ashes on their head Sa2 13:19; Lam 3:16; or they mingled ashes with their food Psa 102:9. The Greeks and the Romans had also the same custom of strewing themselves with ashes in mourning. Thus Homer (Iliad, xviii. 22), speaking of Achilles bewailing the death of Patroclus, says: Cast on the ground, with furious hands he spread The scorching ashes o'er his graceful head, His purple garments, and his golden hairs; Those he deforms, and these he tears. Laertes (Odys. xxiv. 315), shows his grief in the same manner: Deep from his soul he sighed, and sorrowing spread A cloud of ashes on his hoary head. So Virgil (AEn. x. 844), speaking of the father of Lausus, who was brought to him wounded, says: Canitiem immundo deformat pulvere. Wilt thou call this a fast? - Wilt thou suppose that these observances can be such as God will approve and bless? The truth here taught is, that no mere outward expressions of penitence can be acceptable to God.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? - Is this such a mode of fasting as I have appointed and as I approve?

A day for a man to afflict his soul? - Margin, 'To afflict his soul for a day.' The reading in the text is the more correct; and the idea is, that the pain and inconvenience experienced by the abstinence from food was not the end in view in fasting. This seems to have been the mistake which they made, that they supposed there was something meritorious in the very pain incurred by such abstinence. Is there not danger of this now? Do we not often feel that there is something meritorious in the very inconveniences which we suffer in our acts of self denial? The important idea in the passage before us is, that the pain and inconvenience which we may endure by the most rigid fasting are not meritorious in the sight of God. They are not that at which he aims by the appointment of fasting. He aims at justice, truth, benevolence, holiness Isa 58:6-7; and he esteems the act of fasting to be of value only as it will be the means of leading us to reflect on our faults, and to amend our lives.

Is it to bow down his head - A bulrush is the large reed that grows in marshy places. It is, says Johnson, without knots or joints. In the midst of water it grows luxuriantly, yet the stalk is not solid or compact like wood, and, being unsupported by joints, it easily bends over under its own weight. it thus becomes the emblem of a man bowed down with grief. Here it refers to the sanctimoniousness of a hypocrite when fasting - a man without real feeling who puts on an air of affected solemnity, and 'appears to others to fast.' Against that the Saviour warned his disciples, and directed them, when they fasted, to do it in their ordinary dress, and to maintain an aspect of cheerfulness Mat 6:17-18. The hypocrites in the time of Isaiah seemed to have supposed that the object was gained if they assumed this affected seriousness. How much danger is there of this now! How often do even Christians assume, on all the more solemn occasions of religious observance, a forced sanctimoniousness of manner; a demure and dejected air; nay, an appearance of melancholy - which is often understood by the worm to be misanthropy, and which easily slides into misanthropy! Against this we should guard. Nothing more injures the cause of religion than sanctimoniousness, gloom, reserve, coldness, and the conduct and deportment which, whether right or wrong, will be construed by those around us as misanthropy. Be it not forgotten that the seriousness which religion produces is always consistent with cheerfulness, and is always accompanied by benevolence; and the moment we feel that our religious acts consist in merely bowing down the head like a bulrush, that moment we may be sure we shall do injury to all with whom we come in contact.

And to spread sackcloth and ashes under him - On the meaning of the word 'sackcloth,' see the notes at Isa 3:24. It was commonly worn around the loins in times of fasting and of any public or private calamity. It was also customary to sit on sackcloth, or to spread it under one either to lie on, or to kneel on in times of prayer, as an expression of humiliation. Thus in Est 4:3, it is said. 'and many lay on sackcloth and ashes:' or, as it is in the margin, 'sackcloth and ashes were laid under many;' (compare Kg1 21:27). A passage in Josephus strongly confirms this, in which he describes the deep concern of the Jews for the danger of Herod Agrippa, after having been stricken suddenly with a violent disorder in the theater of Caesarea. 'Upon the news of his danger, immediately the multitude, with their wives and children, "sitting upon sackcloth according to their country rites," prayed for the king; all places were filled with wailing and lamentation; while the king, who lay in an upper room, beholding the people below thus falling prostrate on the ground, could not himself refrain from tears' (Antiq. xix. 8. 2). We wear crape - but for a somewhat different object. With us it is a mere sign of grief; but the wearing of sackcloth or sitting on it was not a mere sign of grief, but was regarded as tending to produce humiliation and mortification. Ashes also were a symbol of grief and sorrow. The wearing of sackcloth was usually accompanied with ashes Dan 9:3; Est 4:1, Est 4:3. Penitents, or those in affliction, either sat down on the ground in dust and ashes Job 2:8; Job 42:6; Jon 3:6; or they put ashes on their head Sa2 13:19; Lam 3:16; or they mingled ashes with their food Psa 102:9. The Greeks and the Romans had also the same custom of strewing themselves with ashes in mourning. Thus Homer (Iliad, xviii. 22), speaking of Achilles bewailing the death of Patroclus, says:

Cast on the ground, with furious hands he spread

The scorching ashes o'er his graceful head,

His purple garments, and his golden hairs;

Those he deforms, and these he tears.

Laertes (Odys. xxiv. 315), shows his grief in the same manner:

Deep from his soul he sighed, and sorrowing spread

A cloud of ashes on his hoary head.

So Virgil (AEn. x. 844), speaking of the father of Lausus, who was brought to him wounded, says:

Canitiem immundo deformat pulvere.

Wilt thou call this a fast? - Wilt thou suppose that these observances can be such as God will approve and bless? The truth here taught is, that no mere outward expressions of penitence can be acceptable to God.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Whilst the people on the fast-day are carrying on their worldly, selfish, everyday business, the fasting is perverted from a means of divine worship and absorption in the spiritual character of the day to the most thoroughly selfish purposes: it is supposed to be of some worth and to merit some reward. This work-holy delusion, behind which self-righteousness and unrighteousness were concealed, is met thus by Jehovah through His prophet: "Can such things as these pass for a fast that I have pleasure in, as a day for a man to afflict his soul? To bow down his head like a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under him - dost thou call this a fast and an acceptable day for Jehovah? Is not this a fast that I have pleasure in: To loose coils of wickedness, to untie the bands of the yoke, and for sending away the oppressed as free, and that ye break every kind of yoke? Is it not this, to break thy bread to the hungry, and to take the poor and houseless to thy home; when thou seest a naked man that thou clothest him, and dost not deny thyself before thine own flesh?" The true worship, which consists in works of merciful love to one's brethren, and its great promises are here placed in contrast with the false worship just described. הכזה points backwards: is such a fast as this a fast after Jehovah's mind, a day on which it can be said in truth that a man afflicts his soul (Lev 16:29)? The ה of הלכף is resumed in הלזה; the second ל is the object to תּקרא expressed as a dative. The first ל answers to our preposition "to" with the infinitive, which stands here at the beginning like a casus absol. (to hang down; for which the inf. abs. הכפוף might also be used), and as in most other cases passes over into the finite (et quod saccum et cinerem substernit, viz., sibi: Ges. 132, Anm. 2). To hang down the head and sit in sackcloth and ashes - this does not in itself deserve the name of fasting and of a day of gracious reception (Isa 56:7; Isa 61:2) on the part of Jehovah (ליהוה for a subjective genitive). Isa 58:6 and Isa 58:7 affirm that the fasting which is pleasant to Jehovah consists in something very different from this, namely, in releasing the oppressed, and in kindness to the helpless; not in abstinence form eating as such, but in sympathetic acts of that self-denying love, which gives up bread or any other possession for the sake of doing good to the needy. (Note: The ancient church connected fasting with almsgiving by law. Dressel, Patr. Ap. p. 493.) There is a bitter irony in these words, just as when the ancients said, "not eating is a natural fast, but abstaining form sin is a spiritual fast." During the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans a general emancipation of the slaves of Israelitish descent (who were to be set free, according to the law, every three years) was resolved upon and carried out; but as soon as the Chaldeans were gone, the masters fetched their liberated slaves back into servitude again (Jer 34:8-22). And as Isa 58:6 shows, they carried the same selfish and despotic disposition with them into captivity. The זה which points forwards is expanded into infin. absolutes, which are carried on quite regularly in the finite tense. Mōtâh, which is repeated palindromically, signifies in both cases a yoke, lit., vectis, the cross wood which formed the most important part of the yoke, and which was fastened to the animal's head, and so connected with the plough by means of a cord or strap (Sir. 30:13; 33:27). (Note: I have already observed at Isa 47:6, in vindication of what was stated at Isa 10:27, that the yoke was not in the form of a collar. I brought the subject under the notice of Prof. Schegg, who wrote to me immediately after his return from his journey to Palestine to the following effect: "I saw many oxen ploughing in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and the neighbourhood of Ephesus; and in every case the yoke was a cross piece of wood laid upon the neck of the animal, and fastened to the pole of the plough by a cord which passed under the neck of the animal.") It is to this that אגדּות, knots, refers. We cannot connect it with mutteh, a state of perverted right (Eze 9:9), as Hitzig does. רצוּצים are persons unjustly and forcibly oppressed even with cruelty; רצץ is a stronger synonym to עשׂק (e.g., Amo 4:1). In Isa 58:7 we have the same spirit of general humanity as in Job 31:13-23; Eze 18:7-8 (compare what James describes in Jam 1:27 as "pure religion and undefiled"). לחם (פרשׂ) פרץ is the usual phrase for κλᾶν (κλάζειν) ἄρτον. מרוּדים is the adjective to עניּים, and apparently therefore must be derived from מרד: miserable men who have shown themselves refractory towards despotic rulers. But the participle mârūd cannot be found elsewhere; and the recommendation to receive political fugitives has a modern look. The parallels in Lam 1:7 and Lam 3:19 are conclusive evidence, that the word is intended as a derivative of רוּד, to wander about, and it is so rendered in the lxx, Targ., and Jerome (vagos). But מרוד, pl. מרוּדים, is no adjective; and there is nothing to recommend the opinion, that by "wanderers" we are to understand Israelitish men. Ewald supposes that מרוּדים may be taken as a part. hoph. for מוּרדים, hunted away, like הממותים in Kg2 11:2 (Keri המּמתים); but it cannot be shown that the language allowed of this shifting of a vowel-sound. We prefer to assume that מרוּדים (persecuted) is regarded as part. pass., even if only per metaplasmum, from מרד, a secondary form of רוּד (cf., מכס, מלץ, מצח, makuna). Isa 58:7 is still the virtual subject to אבחרהוּ צום. The apodosis to the hypothetical כּי commences with a perf. consec., which then passes into the pausal future תתעלּם. In hsilgnE:egaugnaL&מבשׂרך (from thine own flesh) it is presupposed that all men form one united whole as being of the same flesh and blood, and that they form one family, owing to one another mutual love.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Whilst the people on the fast-day are carrying on their worldly, selfish, everyday business, the fasting is perverted from a means of divine worship and absorption in the spiritual character of the day to the most thoroughly selfish purposes: it is supposed to be of some worth and to merit some reward. This work-holy delusion, behind which self-righteousness and unrighteousness were concealed, is met thus by Jehovah through His prophet: "Can such things as these pass for a fast that I have pleasure in, as a day for a man to afflict his soul? To bow down his head like a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under him - dost thou call this a fast and an acceptable day for Jehovah? Is not this a fast that I have pleasure in: To loose coils of wickedness, to untie the bands of the yoke, and for sending away the oppressed as free, and that ye break every kind of yoke? Is it not this, to break thy bread to the hungry, and to take the poor and houseless to thy home; when thou seest a naked man that thou clothest him, and dost not deny thyself before thine own flesh?" The true worship, which consists in works of merciful love to one's brethren, and its great promises are here placed in contrast with the false worship just described. הכזה points backwards: is such a fast as this a fast after Jehovah's mind, a day on which it can be said in truth that a man afflicts his soul (Lev 16:29)? The ה of הלכף is resumed in הלזה; the second ל is the object to תּקרא expressed as a dative. The first ל answers to our preposition "to" with the infinitive, which stands here at the beginning like a casus absol. (to hang down; for which the inf. abs. הכפוף might also be used), and as in most other cases passes over into the finite (et quod saccum et cinerem substernit, viz., sibi: Ges. 132, Anm. 2). To hang down the head and sit in sackcloth and ashes - this does not in itself deserve the name of fasting and of a day of gracious reception (Isa 56:7; Isa 61:2) on the part of Jehovah (ליהוה for a subjective genitive).

Isa 58:6 and Isa 58:7 affirm that the fasting which is pleasant to Jehovah consists in something very different from this, namely, in releasing the oppressed, and in kindness to the helpless; not in abstinence form eating as such, but in sympathetic acts of that self-denying love, which gives up bread or any other possession for the sake of doing good to the needy.

(Note: The ancient church connected fasting with almsgiving by law. Dressel, Patr. Ap. p. 493.)

There is a bitter irony in these words, just as when the ancients said, "not eating is a natural fast, but abstaining form sin is a spiritual fast." During the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans a general emancipation of the slaves of Israelitish descent (who were to be set free, according to the law, every three years) was resolved upon and carried out; but as soon as the Chaldeans were gone, the masters fetched their liberated slaves back into servitude again (Jer 34:8-22). And as Isa 58:6 shows, they carried the same selfish and despotic disposition with them into captivity. The זה which points forwards is expanded into infin. absolutes, which are carried on quite regularly in the finite tense. Mōtâh, which is repeated palindromically, signifies in both cases a yoke, lit., vectis, the cross wood which formed the most important part of the yoke, and which was fastened to the animal's head, and so connected with the plough by means of a cord or strap (Sir. 30:13; 33:27).

(Note: I have already observed at Isa 47:6, in vindication of what was stated at Isa 10:27, that the yoke was not in the form of a collar. I brought the subject under the notice of Prof. Schegg, who wrote to me immediately after his return from his journey to Palestine to the following effect: "I saw many oxen ploughing in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and the neighbourhood of Ephesus; and in every case the yoke was a cross piece of wood laid upon the neck of the animal, and fastened to the pole of the plough by a cord which passed under the neck of the animal.")

It is to this that אגדּות, knots, refers. We cannot connect it with mutteh, a state of perverted right (Eze 9:9), as Hitzig does. רצוּצים are persons unjustly and forcibly oppressed even with cruelty; רצץ is a stronger synonym to עשׂק (e.g., Amo 4:1). In Isa 58:7 we have the same spirit of general humanity as in Job 31:13-23; Eze 18:7-8 (compare what James describes in Jam 1:27 as "pure religion and undefiled"). לחם (פרשׂ) פרץ is the usual phrase for κλᾶν (κλάζειν) ἄρτον. מרוּדים is the adjective to עניּים, and apparently therefore must be derived from מרד: miserable men who have shown themselves refractory towards despotic rulers. But the participle mârūd cannot be found elsewhere; and the recommendation to receive political fugitives has a modern look. The parallels in Lam 1:7 and Lam 3:19 are conclusive evidence, that the word is intended as a derivative of רוּד, to wander about, and it is so rendered in the lxx, Targ., and Jerome (vagos). But מרוד, pl. מרוּדים, is no adjective; and there is nothing to recommend the opinion, that by "wanderers" we are to understand Israelitish men. Ewald supposes that מרוּדים may be taken as a part. hoph. for מוּרדים, hunted away, like הממותים in Kg2 11:2 (Keri המּמתים); but it cannot be shown that the language allowed of this shifting of a vowel-sound. We prefer to assume that מרוּדים (persecuted) is regarded as part. pass., even if only per metaplasmum, from מרד, a secondary form of רוּד (cf., מכס, מלץ, מצח, makuna). Isa 58:7 is still the virtual subject to אבחרהוּ צום. The apodosis to the hypothetical כּי commences with a perf. consec., which then passes into the pausal future תתעלּם. In hsilgnE:egaugnaL&מבשׂרך (from thine own flesh) it is presupposed that all men form one united whole as being of the same flesh and blood, and that they form one family, owing to one another mutual love.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Chosen - Approve of, accept, or delight in, by a metonymy, because we delight in what we freely chuse. For a day - This may be understood, either for a man to take a certain time to afflict his soul in, and that either from even to even, Lev 23:32, or from morning to evening, or for a little time. Wilt thou call - Canst thou suppose it to be so? A fast - It being such an one as has nothing in it, but the dumb signs of a fast, nothing of deep humiliation appearing in it, or, real reformation proceeding from it. Acceptable day - A day that God will approve of.

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³ And in every province [04082], whithersoever [04725] the king's [04428] commandment [01697] and his decree [01881] came [05060], there was great [01419] mourning [060] among the Jews [03064], and fasting [06685], and weeping [01065], and wailing [04553]; and many [07227] lay [03331] in sackcloth [08242] and ashes [0665].

²⁷ And it came to pass, when Ahab [0256] heard [08085] those words [01697], that he rent [07167] his clothes [0899], and put [07760] sackcloth [08242] upon his flesh [01320], and fasted [06684], and lay [07901] in sackcloth [08242], and went [01980] softly [0328].

¹⁷ But [1161] thou [4771], when thou fastest [3522], anoint [218] thine [4675] head [2776], and [2532] wash [3538] thy [4675] face [4383];
¹⁸ That [3704] thou appear [5316] not [3361] unto men [444] to fast [3522], but [235] unto thy [4675] Father [3962] which [3588] is in [1722] secret [2927]: and [2532] thy [4675] Father [3962], which [3588] seeth [991] in [1722] secret [2927], shall reward [591] thee [4671] openly [1722] [5318].

⁶ Is not this the fast [06685] that I have chosen [0977]? to loose [06605] the bands [02784] of wickedness [07562], to undo [05425] the heavy [04133] burdens [092], and to let the oppressed [07533] go [07971] free [02670], and that ye break [05423] every yoke [04133]?
⁷ Is it not to deal [06536] thy bread [03899] to the hungry [07457], and that thou bring [0935] the poor [06041] that are cast out [04788] to thy house [01004]? when thou seest [07200] the naked [06174], that thou cover [03680] him; and that thou hide [05956] not thyself from thine own flesh [01320]?

⁹ For I have eaten [0398] ashes [0665] like bread [03899], and mingled [04537] my drink [08249] with weeping [01065],

¹⁶ He hath also broken [01638] my teeth [08127] with gravel stones [02687], he hath covered [03728] me with ashes [0665].

¹⁹ And Tamar [08559] put [03947] ashes [0665] on her head [07218], and rent [07167] her garment [03801] of divers colours [06446] that was on her, and laid [07760] her hand [03027] on her head [07218], and went [03212] on [01980] crying [02199].

⁶ For word [01697] came [05060] unto the king [04428] of Nineveh [05210], and he arose [06965] from his throne [03678], and he laid [05674] his robe [0155] from him, and covered [03680] him with sackcloth [08242], and sat [03427] in ashes [0665].

⁶ Wherefore I abhor [03988] myself, and repent [05162] in dust [06083] and ashes [0665].

⁸ And he took [03947] him a potsherd [02789] to scrape [01623] himself withal; and he sat down [03427] among [08432] the ashes [0665].

¹ When Mordecai [04782] perceived [03045] all that was done [06213], Mordecai [04782] rent [07167] his clothes [0899], and put on [03847] sackcloth [08242] with ashes [0665], and went out [03318] into the midst [08432] of the city [05892], and cried [02199] with a loud [01419] and a bitter [04751] cry [02201];

³ And I set [05414] my face [06440] unto the Lord [0136] God [0430], to seek [01245] by prayer [08605] and supplications [08469], with fasting [06685], and sackcloth [08242], and ashes [0665]:

²⁴ And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell [01314] there shall be stink [04716]; and instead of a girdle [02290] a rent [05364]; and instead of well set [04639] hair [04748] baldness [07144]; and instead of a stomacher [06614] a girding [04228] of sackcloth [08242]; and burning [03587] instead of beauty [03308].

⁷ Is it not to deal [06536] thy bread [03899] to the hungry [07457], and that thou bring [0935] the poor [06041] that are cast out [04788] to thy house [01004]? when thou seest [07200] the naked [06174], that thou cover [03680] him; and that thou hide [05956] not thyself from thine own flesh [01320]?

² But Jehosheba [03089], the daughter [01323] of king [04428] Joram [03141], sister [0269] of Ahaziah [0274], took [03947] Joash [03101] the son [01121] of Ahaziah [0274], and stole [01589] him from among [08432] the king's [04428] sons [01121] which were slain [04191]; and they hid [05641] him, even him and his nurse [03243], in the bedchamber [02315] [04296] from [06440] Athaliah [06271], so that he was not slain [04191].

¹⁹ Remembering [02142] mine affliction [06040] and my misery [04788], the wormwood [03939] and the gall [07219].

⁷ Jerusalem [03389] remembered [02142] in the days [03117] of her affliction [06040] and of her miseries [04788] all her pleasant things [04262] that she had in the days [03117] of old [06924], when her people [05971] fell [05307] into the hand [03027] of the enemy [06862], and none did help [05826] her: the adversaries [06862] saw [07200] her, and did mock [07832] at her sabbaths [04868].

²⁷ Pure [2513] religion [2356] and [2532] undefiled [283] before [3844] God [2316] and [2532] the Father [3962] is [2076] this [3778], To visit [1980] the fatherless [3737] and [2532] widows [5503] in [1722] their [846] affliction [2347], and to keep [5083] himself [1438] unspotted [784] from [575] the world [2889].

⁷ And hath not oppressed [03238] any [0376], but hath restored [07725] to the debtor [02326] his pledge [02258], hath spoiled [01497] none by violence [01500], hath given [05414] his bread [03899] to the hungry [07457], and hath covered [03680] the naked [05903] with a garment [0899];
⁸ He that hath not given forth [05414] upon usury [05392], neither hath taken [03947] any increase [08636], that hath withdrawn [07725] his hand [03027] from iniquity [05766], hath executed [06213] true [0571] judgment [04941] between man [0376] and man [0376],

¹³ If I did despise [03988] the cause [04941] of my manservant [05650] or of my maidservant [0519], when they contended [07379] with me;
¹⁴ What then shall I do [06213] when God [0410] riseth up [06965]? and when he visiteth [06485], what shall I answer [07725] him?
¹⁵ Did not he that made [06213] me in the womb [0990] make [06213] him? and did not one [0259] fashion [03559] us in the womb [07358]?
¹⁶ If I have withheld [04513] the poor [01800] from their desire [02656], or have caused the eyes [05869] of the widow [0490] to fail [03615];
¹⁷ Or have eaten [0398] my morsel [06595] myself alone, and the fatherless [03490] hath not eaten [0398] thereof;
¹⁸ (For from my youth [05271] he was brought up [01431] with me, as with a father [01], and I have guided [05148] her from my mother's [0517] womb [0990];)
¹⁹ If I have seen [07200] any perish [06] for want of clothing [03830], or any poor [034] without covering [03682];
²⁰ If his loins [02504] have not blessed [01288] me, and if he were not warmed [02552] with the fleece [01488] of my sheep [03532];
²¹ If I have lifted up [05130] my hand [03027] against the fatherless [03490], when I saw [07200] my help [05833] in the gate [08179]:
²² Then let mine arm [03802] fall [05307] from my shoulder blade [07929], and mine arm [0248] be broken [07665] from the bone [07070].
²³ For destruction [0343] from God [0410] was a terror [06343] to me, and by reason of his highness [07613] I could [03201] not endure.

¹ Hear [08085] this word [01697], ye kine [06510] of Bashan [01316], that are in the mountain [02022] of Samaria [08111], which oppress [06231] the poor [01800], which crush [07533] the needy [034], which say [0559] to their masters [0113], Bring [0935], and let us drink [08354].

⁹ Then said [0559] he unto me, The iniquity [05771] of the house [01004] of Israel [03478] and Judah [03063] is exceeding [03966] [03966] great [01419], and the land [0776] is full [04390] of blood [01818], and the city [05892] full [04390] of perverseness [04297]: for they say [0559], The LORD [03068] hath forsaken [05800] the earth [0776], and the LORD [03068] seeth [07200] not.

²⁷ And it shall come to pass in that day [03117], that his burden [05448] shall be taken away [05493] from off thy shoulder [07926], and his yoke [05923] from off thy neck [06677], and the yoke [05923] shall be destroyed [02254] because [06440] of the anointing [08081].

⁶ I was wroth [07107] with my people [05971], I have polluted [02490] mine inheritance [05159], and given [05414] them into thine hand [03027]: thou didst shew [07760] them no mercy [07356]; upon the ancient [02205] hast thou very [03966] heavily [03513] laid thy yoke [05923].

⁸ This is the word [01697] that came unto Jeremiah [03414] from the LORD [03068], after [0310] that the king [04428] Zedekiah [06667] had made [03772] a covenant [01285] with all the people [05971] which were at Jerusalem [03389], to proclaim [07121] liberty [01865] unto them;
⁹ That every man [0376] should let his manservant [05650], and every man [0376] his maidservant [08198], being an Hebrew [05680] or an Hebrewess [05680], go [07971] free [02670]; that none should serve [05647] himself of them, to wit, of a Jew [03064] his brother [0251].
¹⁰ Now when all the princes [08269], and all the people [05971], which had entered [0935] into the covenant [01285], heard [08085] that every one [0376] should let his manservant [05650], and every one [0376] his maidservant [08198], go [07971] free [02670], that none should serve [05647] themselves of them any more, then they obeyed [08085], and let them go [07971].
¹¹ But afterward [0310] they turned [07725], and caused the servants [05650] and the handmaids [08198], whom they had let go [07971] free [02670], to return [07725], and brought them into subjection [03533] [03533] for servants [05650] and for handmaids [08198].
¹² Therefore the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came to Jeremiah [03414] from the LORD [03068], saying [0559],
¹³ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], the God [0430] of Israel [03478]; I made [03772] a covenant [01285] with your fathers [01] in the day [03117] that I brought them forth [03318] out of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], out of the house [01004] of bondmen [05650], saying [0559],
¹⁴ At the end [07093] of seven [07651] years [08141] let ye go [07971] every man [0376] his brother [0251] an Hebrew [05680], which hath been sold [04376] unto thee; and when he hath served [05647] thee six [08337] years [08141], thou shalt let him go [07971] free [02670] from thee: but your fathers [01] hearkened [08085] not unto me, neither inclined [05186] their ear [0241].
¹⁵ And ye were now [03117] turned [07725], and had done [06213] right [03477] in my sight [05869], in proclaiming [07121] liberty [01865] every man [0376] to his neighbour [07453]; and ye had made [03772] a covenant [01285] before [06440] me in the house [01004] which is called [07121] by my name [08034]:
¹⁶ But ye turned [07725] and polluted [02490] my name [08034], and caused every man [0376] his servant [05650], and every man [0376] his handmaid [08198], whom ye had set [07971] at liberty [02670] at their pleasure [05315], to return [07725], and brought them into subjection [03533], to be unto you for servants [05650] and for handmaids [08198].
¹⁷ Therefore thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; Ye have not hearkened [08085] unto me, in proclaiming [07121] liberty [01865], every one [0376] to his brother [0251], and every man [0376] to his neighbour [07453]: behold, I proclaim [07121] a liberty [01865] for you, saith [05002] the LORD [03068], to the sword [02719], to the pestilence [01698], and to the famine [07458]; and I will make [05414] you to be removed [02189] [02113] into all the kingdoms [04467] of the earth [0776].
¹⁸ And I will give [05414] the men [0582] that have transgressed [05674] my covenant [01285], which have not performed [06965] the words [01697] of the covenant [01285] which they had made [03772] before [06440] me, when they cut [03772] the calf [05695] in twain [08147], and passed [05674] between the parts [01335] thereof,
¹⁹ The princes [08269] of Judah [03063], and the princes [08269] of Jerusalem [03389], the eunuchs [05631], and the priests [03548], and all the people [05971] of the land [0776], which passed [05674] between the parts [01335] of the calf [05695];
²⁰ I will even give [05414] them into the hand [03027] of their enemies [0341], and into the hand [03027] of them that seek [01245] their life [05315]: and their dead bodies [05038] shall be for meat [03978] unto the fowls [05775] of the heaven [08064], and to the beasts [0929] of the earth [0776].
²¹ And Zedekiah [06667] king [04428] of Judah [03063] and his princes [08269] will I give [05414] into the hand [03027] of their enemies [0341], and into the hand [03027] of them that seek [01245] their life [05315], and into the hand [03027] of the king [04428] of Babylon's [0894] army [02428], which are gone up [05927] from you.
²² Behold, I will command [06680], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], and cause them to return [07725] to this city [05892]; and they shall fight [03898] against it, and take [03920] it, and burn [08313] it with fire [0784]: and I will make [05414] the cities [05892] of Judah [03063] a desolation [08077] without an inhabitant [03427].

² To proclaim [07121] the acceptable [07522] year [08141] of the LORD [03068], and the day [03117] of vengeance [05359] of our God [0430]; to comfort [05162] all that mourn [057];

⁷ Even them will I bring [0935] to my holy [06944] mountain [02022], and make them joyful [08055] in my house [01004] of prayer [08605]: their burnt offerings [05930] and their sacrifices [02077] shall be accepted [07522] upon mine altar [04196]; for mine house [01004] shall be called [07121] an house [01004] of prayer [08605] for all people [05971].

²⁹ And this shall be a statute [02708] for ever [05769] unto you: that in the seventh [07637] month [02320], on the tenth [06218] day of the month [02320], ye shall afflict [06031] your souls [05315], and do [06213] no work [04399] at all, whether it be one of your own country [0249], or a stranger [01616] that sojourneth [01481] among [08432] you:

³² It shall be unto you a sabbath [07676] of rest [07677], and ye shall afflict [06031] your souls [05315]: in the ninth [08672] day of the month [02320] at even [06153], from even [06153] unto even [06153], shall ye celebrate [07673] your sabbath [07676].