Yesaya 58:7-11

58:7 I want you ¹  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ² 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ³ 

58:8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; ⁴ 

your restoration will quickly arrive; ⁵ 

your godly behavior ⁶  will go before you,

and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. ⁷ 

58:9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond;

you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’

You must ⁸  remove the burdensome yoke from among you

and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.

58:10 You must ⁹  actively help the hungry

and feed the oppressed. ¹⁰ 

Then your light will dispel the darkness, ¹¹ 

and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ¹² 

58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;

he will feed you even in parched regions. ¹³ 

He will give you renewed strength, ¹⁴ 

and you will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring that continually produces water.

[58:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ² tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ³ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[58:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “will burst out like the dawn.”

[58:8]  sn Light here symbolizes God’s favor and restored blessing, as the immediately following context makes clear.

[58:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “prosper”; KJV “spring forth speedily.”

[58:8]  ⁶ tn Or “righteousness.” Their godly behavior will be on display for all to see.

[58:8]  ⁷ sn The nation will experience God’s protective presence.

[58:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 9b-10 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in vv. 9b-10a), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 10b.

[58:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.

[58:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”

[58:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”

[58:10]  ¹² tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”

[58:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”

[58:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”