You've sent your ambassadors far away and sent them down to Sheol.

10 You've tired yourself out with many journeys.

You didn't think that it was hopeless.

You've found renewed strength, so you didn't faint.

11 Whom did you dread and fear so much that you lied to me?

You haven't remembered me or cared about me.

I've been silent for a long time.

Is that why you don't fear me?

12 I'll tell you about your righteous ways and what you have done, but they won't help you.

13 When you cry for help, let your collection of idols save you.

A wind will carry them all away.

A breath will take them away.

But whoever trusts me will possess the land and inherit my holy mountain.

14 It will be said: "Build a road! Build a road!

Prepare the way!

Remove every obstacle in the way of my people!"

15 The High and Lofty One lives forever, and his name is holy.

This is what he says: I live in a high and holy place.

But I am with those who are crushed and humble.

I will renew the spirit of those who are humble and the courage of those who are crushed.

16 I will not accuse you forever.

I will not be angry with you forever.

Otherwise, the spirits, the lives of those I've made, would grow faint in my presence.

17 I was angry because of their sinful greed, so I punished them, hid from them, and remained angry.

But they continued to be sinful.

18 I've seen their sinful ways, but I'll heal them.

I'll guide them and give them rest.

I'll comfort them and their mourners.

19 I'll create praise on their lips: "Perfect peace to those both far and near."

"I'll heal them," says Yahweh .

20 But the wicked are like the churning sea.

It isn't quiet, and its water throws up mud and slime.

21 "There is no peace for the wicked," says my Elohim .

Worship the LORD as He Wants to Be Worshiped 58 1 Cry aloud! Don't hold back!

Raise your voice like a ram's horn.

Tell my people about their rebellion and the descendants of Jacob about their sins.

2 They look for me every day and want to know my ways.

They act as if they were a nation that has done what is right and as if they haven't disregarded Elohim's judgment on them.

They ask me for just decrees.

They want Elohim to be near them.

3 Why have we fasted if you are not aware of it?

Why have we inflicted pain on ourselves if you don't pay attention?

Don't you see that on the days you fast, you do what you want to do?

You mistreat all your workers.

4 Don't you see that when you fast, you quarrel and fight and beat your workers?

The way you fast today keeps you from being heard in heaven.

5 Is this the kind of fasting I have chosen?

Should people humble themselves for only a day?

Is fasting just bowing your head like a cattail and making your bed from sackcloth and ashes?

Is this what you call fasting?

Is this an acceptable day to Yahweh?

6 This is the kind of fasting I have chosen: Loosen the chains of wickedness, untie the straps of the yoke,a let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke.

7 Share your food with the hungry, take the poor and homeless into your house, and cover them with clothes when you see them naked.

Don't refuse to help your relatives.

8 Then your light will break through like the dawn, and you will heal quickly.

Your righteousness will go ahead of you, and the glory of Yahweh will guard you from behind.

9 Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer.

You will cry for help, and he will say, "Here I am!"

Get rid of that yoke.

Don't point your finger and say wicked things.

10 If you give some of your own food to feed those who are hungry and to satisfy the needs of those who are humble, then your light will rise in the dark, and your darkness will become as bright as the noonday sun.

11 Yahweh will continually guide you and satisfy you even in sun-baked places.

He will strengthen your bones.

You will become like a watered garden and like a spring whose water does not stop flowing.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the foundations of past generations.

You will be called the Rebuilder of Broken Walls and the Restorer of Streets Where People Live.

13 If you stop trampling on the day of worship and doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the day of worship a delight and Yahweh's holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way, by not going out when you want, and by not talking idly, 14 then you will find joy in Yahweh.

I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.

I will feed you with the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.

Yahweh has spoken.

The LORD Will Turn His People from Wrongdoing 59 1 Yahweh is not too weak to save or his ear too deaf to hear.

2 But your wrongs have separated you from your Elohim, and your sins have made him hide his face so that he doesn't hear you.

3 Your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers are stained with sin.

You speak lies, and you mutter wicked things.

4 No one calls for justice, and no one pleads his case truthfully.

People trust pointless arguments and speak lies.

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

5 They hatch viper eggs and weave spiderwebs.

Those who eat their eggs will die.

When an egg is crushed, a poisonous snake is hatched.

6 Their webs can't be used for clothes, nor can they cover themselves with their works.

Their works are evil.

Their hands have committed acts of violence.

7 Their feet run to do evil.

They hurry to shed innocent blood.

Their plans are evil.

Ruin and destruction are on their highways.

8 They don't know the way of peace.

There's no justice on their highways.

They've made their paths crooked.

Whoever walks on them will never know peace.

9 That is why justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn't reach us.

We hope for light, but we walk in darkness.

We hope for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

10 We grope like blind men along a wall.

We grope like people without eyes.

We stumble at noon as if it were twilight.

We are like dead people among healthy people.

11 We all growl like bears.

We coo like doves.