Isaiah 58:3
“¶ Wherefore haue wee fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore haue wee afflicted our soule, & thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labours.”
1611 King James Version (KJV)
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Isaiah 58:3 Context
1Crie aloude, spare not, lift vp thy voice like a trumpet, and shewe my people their transgression, & the house of Iacob their sins. 2Yet they seeke mee daily, and delight to know my wayes, as a nation that did righteousnesse, and forsooke not the ordinance of their God: they aske of me the ordinances of iustice: they take delight in approching to God. 3¶ Wherefore haue wee fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore haue wee afflicted our soule, & thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4Behold, yee fast for strife and debate; and to smite with the fist of wickednesse, yee shall not fast as yee doe this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5Is it such a fast that I haue chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soule? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackecloth and ashes vnder him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord ?
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Other Translations for Isaiah 58:3
Wherefore have we fasted, [say they], and thou seest not? [wherefore] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
- King James Version
'Why have we fasted and You do not see? {Why} have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?' Behold, on the day of your fast you find {your} desire, And drive hard all your workers.
- New American Standard Version (1995)
Wherefore have we fasted, `say they', and thou seest not? `wherefore' have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find `your own' pleasure, and exact all your labors.
- American Standard Version (1901)
They say, Why have we kept ourselves from food, and you do not see it? why have we kept ourselves from pleasure, and you take no note of it? If, in the days when you keep from food, you take the chance to do your business, and get in your debts;
- Basic English Bible
-- Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not; have afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find what pleaseth [you], and exact all your labours.
- Darby Bible
Why have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? why have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors.
- Webster's Bible
'Why have we fasted,' [say they], 'and you don't see? [why] have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge?' "Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors.
- World English Bible
`Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not seen? We have afflicted our soul, and Thou knowest not.' Lo, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, And all your labours ye exact.
- Youngs Literal Bible
'Wherefore have we fasted, and Thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and Thou takest no knowledge?'-- Behold, in the day of your fast ye pursue your business, and exact all your labours.
- Jewish Publication Society Bible
Wesley's Notes for Isaiah 58:3
58:3 Afflicted - Defrauded our appetites with fasting, of which this phrase is used, #Levit 16:29|. Ye find - Either you indulge yourselves in sensuality, as they did, #Isa 22:13|. But this does not agree with that afflicting of their souls which they now professed, and which God acknowledges; or you pursue and satisfy your own desires: though you abstain from bodily food, you do not mortify your sinful inclinations. Exact - Your money, got by your labour, and lent to others, either for their need or your own advantage, which you require either with usury, or at least with rigour, when either the general law of charity, or God's particular law, commanded the release, or at least the forbearance of them.