Fathers

Isaiah 58

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Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 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. 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. 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. 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 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? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

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What the Fathers say

Isaiah 58:12

Eastern Fathers

Cyril of Alexandria

The prophetic word comes to us through two further metaphors, and the beautiful form of hidden ideas is displayed. For it is about a deserted town and its defenseless state that a form of words is molded. It declares, your deserts will be lived in perpetually, that is, you will not be naked of good thoughts indwelling your heart, nor will you be defenseless or unguarded and insecure. For Christ will be your enduring foundation and support, and like a city you will have countless people dwelling there. …

Commentary On Isaiah 5:4.58:12 ↗

Western Saints

Jerome

And the deserts of the ages will be built in you: you will raise the foundations of generation after generation: and you will be called the builder of walls, turning paths into peace. LXX: And the deserts will be built for you from the age and your foundations will be everlasting for generations and generations: and you will be called the builder of walls, and you will make paths rest in the middle. …

Commentary on Isaiah ↗

Thomas Aquinas

1031. Second, as to the rebuilding of their homeland: and the places that have been desolate for ages, that is, namely, the cities of the desert in former times, shall be built, after their return from captivity; you shall raise up, rebuilding upon the old foundations, above: who say to Jerusalem: you shall be inhabited: and to the cities of Judah: you shall be built (Isa 44:26). 1032. …

Commentary on Isaiah ↗