Isaiah 58:5

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?

Is it such a fast {H6685} that I have chosen {H977}? a day {H3117} for a man {H120} to afflict {H6031} his soul {H5315}? is it to bow down {H3721} his head {H7218} as a bulrush {H100}, and to spread {H3331} sackcloth {H8242} and ashes {H665} under him? wilt thou call {H7121} this {H2088} a fast {H6685}, and an acceptable {H7522} day {H3117} to the LORD {H3068}?

"Is this the sort of fast I want, a day when a person mortifies himself? Is the object to hang your head like a reed and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself? Is this what you call a fast, a day that pleases ADONAI?

Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?

Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?

Commentary

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Cross-References

  • Zechariah 7:5 (9 votes)

    Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh [month], even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, [even] to me?

  • Daniel 9:3 (7 votes)

    And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

  • Daniel 9:19 (7 votes)

    O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

  • Isaiah 61:2 (5 votes)

    To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

  • Isaiah 49:8 (5 votes)

    Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

  • Esther 4:16 (3 votes)

    Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which [is] not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

  • Psalms 69:13 (3 votes)

    ¶ But as for me, my prayer [is] unto thee, O LORD, [in] an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.