Isaiah 58:6
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Study Note
Study Note
God's redefinition of true fasting — 'is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?' — represents one of the Hebrew Bible's most radical critiques of religious performance divorced from social justice. The prophetic tradition consistently attacks the substitution of ritual for ethical obligation (Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8; Isaiah 1:11-17), but Isaiah 58 specifically redefines a penitential practice as genuine only when it produces acts of liberation. Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1-2's 'liberty to the captives' in Luke 4:18 as his programmatic self-description, while Acts 10:38 summarizes his ministry as 'healing all who were oppressed' — both drawing on the same tradition Isaiah 58 represents. The verse became foundational in liberation theology's analysis of worship and prophetic action.
Other Translations
Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Is not this the fast that I chose--To loose the bands of wickedness, To shake off the burdens of the yoke, And to send out the oppressed free, And every yoke ye draw off?
Is not this the holy day for which I have given orders: to let loose those who have wrongly been made prisoners, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the crushed go free, and every yoke be broken?
Cross References
Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If …
But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and …
This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant …
Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from …
Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from …
Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name …
Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. …
I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us …