Isaiah 58:1–5, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Isaiah 58:1–5
A Self-Interested Fast Cannot Hide Exploitation
They seek me daily, and they exploit
The prophet is told to shout. The people act as if they want to know God's ways, as a nation that did righteousness. They ask why we have fasted and you have not seen. Because on your fast day you pursue your own business and oppress all your workers. You fast to quarrel and to hit with a wicked fist. Is a hung head and sackcloth the fast I choose?
Worship critique lands on labor. Piety that starves the body while starving the employee is not misunderstood holiness; it is theater. This is not a partisan club, not a permit for punitive religion, and not a way to perform justice-talk while our own house remains a fist.
The question 'why have we fasted' is sincere and self-incriminating. A warranted life is to let that question search our calendars and payrolls, and to stop offering God a performance of hunger that leaves neighbors unfed and unfree.
How this should shape us
Let 'why have we fasted' search your calendar and your payroll. Stop offering God a performance of hunger that leaves workers under a fist.
Teach it back
Explain Isaiah 58:1–5 in your own words. Name its place in Isaiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Isaiah 58:1–5, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 58:1–5 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, poetry, older KJV language, chronology, names, textual issues, and material translation alternatives.
Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 58:1–5 in the complete 205-page book PDF
Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.
Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 3A and themes of justice, worship, and return; applied to Isaiah 58:1–5
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Isaiah 58:1–5, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 58:1–5 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Isaiah
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, poetry, older KJV language, chronology, names, textual issues, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 58:1–5 in the complete 205-page book PDF
Open the official NET Isaiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception
Fred Gaiser; revised by Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised August 2024
Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 3A and themes of justice, worship, and return; applied to Isaiah 58:1–5
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