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;
Parallel translations
- WEB Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly;
- BSB Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,
- NKJV Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
- NASB “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
- NLT Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If they remove oppression and wicked speech, God will answer their cries with His ready presence. Repentant obedience brings God's attentive nearness.
Overview
The Lord promises that when the yoke, accusing finger, and malicious speech are put away, He will respond to their call, saying Here I am. Communion with God is restored when sin against neighbor is forsaken. This anticipates the gospel reality that, reconciled through Christ, believers draw near to a God who hears and is present with them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Ps 50:15And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
- Jer 29:12–13Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
- Isa 65:24And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
- Matt 7:7–8Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
- Ps 91:15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
- Isa 1:15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
- Ps 118:5I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
- Ps 34:15–17The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
- Prov 6:13He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
- Ps 12:2They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
- Ps 66:18–19If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
- Ps 37:4Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
- 1 Jn 3:21–22Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
- Isa 57:4Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
- Isa 58:6Is 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?
- Isa 59:13In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
- Zech 10:2For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
- 1 Sam 3:4–8That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
- Gen 27:18And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
- Isa 30:19For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
- Isa 59:3–4For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
- Ezek 13:8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 58:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.