Isaiah 58:2

Isaiah 58:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
• New International Version (NIV)For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.

Context of Isaiah 58:2

1The Lord says, ‘Shout out! Shout as loudly as you can! Make as much noise as a trumpet makes! Tell my people that they have not obeyed me. Tell the family of Jacob about their sins. Every day my people come to worship me. It seems that they want to know my ways. They seem like a nation of people who are doing the right things. They seem to be obeying the law of their God. They ask me to decide things fairly. Yes, they seem to want to be near to me. 3They say to me, “We have fasted to please you, but you do not see it. We make ourselves humble and you do not even look.” Listen to me! Yes you fast, but you do it to please yourselves. At the same time as you are fasting, you are being cruel to the people who work for you. 4Yes! While you are fasting, you are also quarrelling and you are fighting. You hit each other with your fists. If you want your prayers to reach me in heaven, you cannot continue to fast in the way that you do today.

Isaiah 58:2 word by word

וְאוֹתִ֗י י֥וֹם יוֹם֙ יִדְרֹשׁ֔וּן וְדַ֥עַת דְּרָכַ֖י יֶחְפָּצ֑וּן כְּג֞וֹי אֲשֶׁר־צְדָקָ֣ה עָשָׂ֗ה וּמִשְׁפַּ֤ט אֱלֹהָיו֙ לֹ֣א עָזָ֔ב יִשְׁאָל֙וּנִי֙ מִשְׁפְּטֵי־צֶ֔דֶק קִרְבַ֥ת אֱלֹהִ֖ים יֶחְפָּצֽוּן׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Yet they seekדָּרַשׁdârash · to seekH1875
• me dailyיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• and delightחָפֵץchâphêts · to delight inH2654
• to knowדַּ֫עַתda‛ath · knowledgeH1847
• my waysדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: conductH1870
• as a nationגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• that didעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• righteousnessצְדָקָהtsedâqâh · righteousnessH6666
• and forsookעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
• not the ordinanceמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justice: judgementH4941
• of their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• they askשָׁאַלshâ'al shâ'êl · to askH7592
• of me the ordinancesמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justiceH4941
• of justiceצֶ֫דֶקtsedeq · righteousnessH6664
• in approachingקִרְבָהqerâbâh · nearnessH7132

Cross-references for Isaiah 58:2

• Isaiah 1:11The Lord says, ‘All your sacrifices are not important to me. I have received too many sacrifices that you have burned as gifts to me. I have received too many sheep and fat animals. I do not want any more blood from bulls, goats and lambs that you have offered to me as sacrifices. They do not give me any pleasure.
• Isaiah 29:13The Lord God says, ‘These people open their mouths to worship me. They use their lips to say that I am great. But they are not really thinking about me. When they worship me, they use rules that people have taught them.
• Isaiah 48:1Listen to this, family of Jacob. You are called ‘Israel’, and you are Judah's descendants. You use the name of the Lord when you make promises. You pray to Israel's God. But you do not do those things honestly and fairly.
• Deuteronomy 5:28The Lord heard what you said to me. He said to me, ‘I have heard what these people have said to you. What they said is right.
• 1 Samuel 15:21But the army did not kill all the sheep and cows that they took from the Amalekites. They brought the best animals to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.’
• Proverbs 15:8When wicked people offer sacrifices to the Lord, he hates it. But he is pleased when good people pray to him.
• Ezekiel 33:30Son of man, the Israelites who are here with you in Babylon are talking about you. They meet together near the walls of the city and at the doors of their houses. They are saying to each other, “Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.”
• Matthew 15:7You are hypocrites! What God's prophet Isaiah wrote about you long ago is true:
• Mark 4:16Some of the seeds fell on soil with rocks in it. This is also like some people who hear God's message. These people are happy to believe it for a time.
• Mark 6:20because Herod was afraid of John. Herod knew that John was a good man and a servant of God. So Herod kept John safe. Herod liked to listen to the things that John said. But he did not know what to think about those things.
• John 5:35John was like a light that shone brightly. For a certain time, you enjoyed the light that he gave.
• Hebrews 6:4That is important, because we must not turn away from Christ, after we have first believed in him. Some people have come into God's light. They have understood God's message. They have started to enjoy the true life that God has given them. They have received the Holy Spirit, like other believers.
• Jeremiah 42:2They said to Jeremiah, ‘Please listen to us. Pray to the Lord your God for those of us who remain alive. You can see that only a few of us remain from the many people that we were before.
• Mark 12:14These men came to Jesus and they said, ‘Teacher, we know that you only say true things. It does not matter to you what other people think. If someone is important, you do not change your answers to make them happy. You really do teach us what God wants us to do. Tell us, should we pay our taxes to the Roman ruler, Caesar? Is it right to give that money to him, or not?’
• James 1:21So stop doing disgusting things. Stay away from the wicked things that are all around you. God has put his message deep inside you, and it can save you. So be careful to accept that message.
• 1 Peter 2:1So you must refuse to do any evil things. Do not tell lies to deceive people. Do not be hypocrites. Do not be jealous of other people. Do not say bad things against other people.

Commentaries on Isaiah 58:2

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Yet they seek me daily - The whole description here is appropriate to the character of formalists and hypocrites; and the idea is, that public worship by sacrifice was celebrated daily in the temple, and was not intermitted. It is not improbable also that they kept up the regular daily service in their dwellings. And delight to know my ways - Probably this means, they profess to delight to know the ways of God; that is, his commands, truths, and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2they seek me: They may have been truly committed to a religious form, but they failed to truly meet God in their religious activities.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Put the stop at "ways"; and connect "as a nation that," &c. with what follows; "As a nation that did righteousness," thus answers to, "they ask of Me just judgments" (that is, as a matter of justice due to them, salvation to themselves, and destruction to their enemies); and "forsook not the ordinance of their God," answers to "they desire the drawing near of God" (that God would draw near to exercise those "just judgments" in behalf of them, and…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 58:2

• Affections
• Hypocrisy

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
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Commentaries on Isaiah 58

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings