the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Read the Bible
King James Version
Isaiah 58:4
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BridgewayEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
Behold, you fast for contention and quarreling and to strike with a wicked fist.You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
"Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
If keeping from food makes you quickly angry, ready for fighting and giving blows with evil hands; your holy days are not such as to make your voice come to my ears on high.
Beholde, when ye fast, your lust remayneth still, for ye do no lesse violence to your detters: lo, ye fast to strife and debate, and to smite with your fist without mercy: Nowe ye shall not fast thus, that your voyce might be hearde aboue.
Behold, ye have fasted for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness; ye do not at present fast, to cause your voice to be heard on high.
Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high.
Look! You fast for strife, and for debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. Do not fast as today, to sound your voice in the high place.
You are hungry, but not for food. You are hungry for arguing and fighting, not for bread. You are hungry to hit people with your evil hands. This is not the way to fast if you want your prayers to be heard in heaven!
Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you don't fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Behold, 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.
Beholde, when ye fast, youre lust remayneth still: for ye do no lesse violence to youre detters: lo, ye fast to strife and debate, and to smyte him with youre fist, that speaketh vnto you. Ye fast not (as somtyme) that youre voyce might be herde aboue.
"Well, here's why: "The bottom line on your ‘fast days' is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won't get your prayers off the ground. Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after: a day to show off humility? To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black? Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, God, would like?
"The facts are that you fast only for strife and brawling and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You do not fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high.
Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Look, you fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: you do not fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as [ye do this] day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
On these special days when you fast, you argue and fight and hit each other with your fists. You cannot do these things as you do now and believe your prayers are heard in heaven.
Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven.
You even get angry and ready to fight. No wonder God won't listen to your prayers!
Your fasts lead to quarreling and fighting, to lashing out with violent blows. On a day like today, fasting like yours will not make your voice heard on high.
Beholde, ye fast to strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickednesse: ye shall not fast as ye doe to day, to make your voyce to be heard aboue.
Behold, you fast for strife and quarreling, and to strike violently with the fist of wickedness; you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you don't fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness; ye fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.
See, while you go without food you argue and fight and hit with a sinful hand. Going without food as you do today will not help your voice to be heard on high.
If ye fast for quarrels and strifes, and smite the lowly with your fists, wherefore do ye fast to me as ye do this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying?
Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.
Lo! for strife and contention, ye fast, And to smite with the fist of lawlessness, - Ye shall not fast as to-day, To cause to be heard on high your voice!
Behold you fast for debates and strife, and strike with the fist wickedly. Do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry to be heard on high.
Look! You fast to quarrel and strife, and to strike with a wicked fist. You shall not fast as you do today, to make your voice heard on the height.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
"Behold, you fast for contention and strife, and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you have done today to make your voice heard on high!
Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?
You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high.
Lo! ye fasten to chidyngis and stryuyngis, and smyten with the fist wickidli. Nyl ye fast, as `til to this dai, that youre cry be herd an hiy.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Lo, for strife and debate ye fast, And to smite with the fist of wickedness, Ye fast not as [to]-day, To sound in the high place your voice.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
ye fast: 1 Kings 21:9-13, Proverbs 21:27, Matthew 6:16, Matthew 23:14, Luke 20:47, John 18:28
and to smite: Acts 23:1, Acts 23:2, Philippians 1:14, Philippians 1:15
shall not fast as ye do this day: or, fast not as this day, to make. Joel 2:13, Joel 2:14, Jonah 3:7, Matthew 6:16-18
Reciprocal: Exodus 21:20 - smite Numbers 23:4 - I have prepared 2 Samuel 15:7 - pay 1 Kings 21:12 - General Isaiah 3:15 - ye beat Isaiah 40:9 - lift up Zechariah 7:5 - did 1 Timothy 6:4 - words James 1:7 - General
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate,.... Brawling with their servants for not doing work enough; or quarrelling with their debtors for not paying their debts; or the main of their religion lay in contentions and strifes about words, vain hot disputations about rites and ceremonies in worship, as is well known to have been the case of the reformed churches:
and to smite with the fist of wickedness; their servants or their debtors; or rather it may design the persecution of such whose consciences would not suffer them to receive the doctrines professed; or submit to ordinances as administered; or comply with rites and ceremonies enjoined by the said churches; for which they have smitten their brethren that dissented from them with the fist, or have persecuted them in a violent manner by imprisonment, confiscation of goods, c. all which is no other than a fist of wickedness, and highly displeasing to God, and renders all their services unacceptable in his sight; see Matthew 24:49:
ye shall not fast as ye do this day; or, "as this day"; after this manner; this is not right:
to make your voice to be heard on high; referring either to their noisy threatening of their servants for not doing their work; or their clamorous demands upon their debtors; or to their loud prayers, joined with their fasting, which they expected to be heard in the highest heaven, but would be mistaken; for such services, attended with the above evils, are not wellpleasing to God.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate - This is a third characteristic of their manner of fasting, and a third reason why God did not regard and accept it. They were divided into parties and factions, and probably made their fastings an occasion of augmented contention and strife. How often has this been seen! Contending denominations of Christians fast, not laying aside their strifes; contending factions in the church fast in order to strengthen their party with the solemn sanctions of religion. One of the most certain ways for bigots to excite persecution against those who are opposed to them is to ‘proclaim a fast;’ and when together, their passions are easily inflamed, their flagging zeal excited by inflammatory harangues, and their purpose formed to regard and treat their dissentient brethren as incorrigible heretics and irreconcilable foes. It may be added, also, that it is possible thus to prostitute all the sacred institutions of religion for party and inflammatory purposes. Even the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper may be thus abused, and violent partisans may come around the sacred memorials of a Saviour’s body and blood, to bind themselves more closely together in some deed of persecution or violence, and to animate their drooping courage with the belief that what has been in fact commenced with a view to power, is carried on from a regard to the honor of God.
And to smite with the fist of wickedness - Lowth renders this, in accordance with the Septuagint. ‘To smite with the fist the poor;’ but this translation can be obtained only by a most violent and wholly unauthorized change in the Hebrew text. The idea is plain, that ‘even when fasting’ they were guilty of strife and personal combats. Their passions were unsubdued, and they gave vent to them in disgraceful personal encounters. This manifests a most extraordinary state of society, and is a most melancholy instance to show how much people may keep up the forms of religion, and even be punctual and exact in them, when the most violent and ungovernable passions are raging in their bosoms, and when they seem to be unconscious of any discrepancy between the religious service and the unsubdued passions of the soul.
Ye shall not fast ... - It is not acceptable to God. It must be offensive in his sight.
To make your voice to be heard on high - That is, in strife and contention. So to contend and strive, says Grotius, that your voice can be heard on the mountain top. Rosenmuller, however, supposes that it means, that their fast was so conducted that they could not expect that their prayers would ascend to heaven and be heard by God. But it seems to me that the former is the correct interpretation. Their fastings were accompanied with the loud and hoarse voice of contention and strife, and on that account could not be acceptable to God.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Isaiah 58:4. Ye fast for strife and debate — How often is this the case! A whole nation are called to fast to implore God's blessing on wars carried on for the purposes of wrath and ambition.
To smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day - "To smite with the fist the poor. Wherefore fast ye unto me in this manner"] I follow the version of the Septuagint, which gives a much better sense than the present reading of the Hebrew. Instead of רשע לא resha lo, they seem to have read in their copy רש על מה לי rash al mah lli. The four first letters are the same, but otherwise divided in regard to the words; the four last are lost, and א aleph added in their place, in order to make some sort of sense with רשע ל. The version of the Septuagint is, και τυπτετε τυγμαις ταπεινον· ἱνα τι μοι νηστευετε - as above.
