Isaiah 58:1
in Isaiah 58“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
KJV
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
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This verse in Isaiah 58
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Cry aloud - Margin, ‘With the throat;’ that is, says Gesenius, with open throat, with full voice coming from the throat and breast; while one who speaks low uses only the lips and tongue 1Sa 1:13. The Chaldee here introduces the word prophet, ‘O prophet, cry aloud.’ The Septuagint renders it, ‘Cry with strength.’ (ἐν ἰσχύΐ en ischui). Spare not - That is, do not spare, or restrain the voice. Let it be full, loud, and strong. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet - Speak loud and distinct, so that the language of reproof may be heard.
This site's exposition
Cry aloud, do not hold back!
on Isaiah 58:1-2
The command to “Raise your voice like a ram’s horn” opens the chapter on fasting as a charge against “the house of Jacob”. Verse 2 describes religion faultless to the eye: “they seek Me and delight to know My ways”. They act “like a nation that does what is right”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 1 -- Prologue · Written before 523.
proposed
For also when God saw the dying condition of the Jews who of their own will stopped their ears, and blinded their eyes, and made thick their hearts against the remembrance of the knowledge of God, He stirred up Isaiah to rouse them up, and …
We are commanded then to cry out and to cry forcefully and not to spare our voice, lest we lose our salvation. "And do not be sparing," he says. That is, do not pass over the sinner's wickedness by keeping silent and by being considerate …
(Chapter 58—Verse 1.) Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins. (LXX: Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto the people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.)
The Medieval Church1 voice
1022. Cry, cease not. Here he excludes a useless remedy, by which they wished to prepare themselves for salvation. And first, he enjoins the duty of announcing, setting out the manner of announcing, that it be loud without fear suppressing it: cry, above: lift up …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Show them their transgressions and their sins, that is, all their transgressions in their sins, their sins and all the aggravations of them," Lev. xvi. Note, (1.) God sees sin in his people, in the house of Jacob, and is displeased with it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,....
Others think it is principally intended against the hypocrisy of the Jews, especially the Pharisees before and in our Saviour's time: they boasted of their fastings, but Christ (as the prophet here) showed them their transgressions ( Matt. xxiii. ), much the same with those they are here charged with.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
aloud--Hebrew, "with the throat," that is, with full voice, not merely from the lips (1Sa 1:13). Speak loud enough to arrest attention. my people--the Jews in Isaiah's time, and again in the time of our Lord, more zealous for externals than for inward holiness.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2308: “Ten Wrong Kinds of Hearers” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IF we would understand these words aright, we must remember that the people here mentioned were not good people—they were a set of hypocrites. This is quite clear if we read the verses that follow our text—"Why have we fasted, they say, and You see not? Why have we afflicted our souls and You take no notice? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2308: “Ten Wrong Kinds of Hearers” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IF we would understand these words aright, we must remember that the people here mentioned were not good people—they were a set of hypocrites. This is quite clear if we read the verses that follow our text—"Why have we fasted, they say, and You see not? Why have we afflicted our souls and You take no notice? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You shall not fast as you 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? Will you 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 you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the Glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard." It is a very pleasing sign when people like to go up to the House of God. I do not know of a more beautiful sight than the present congregation, with every seat occupied, and some people even willing to stand to hear the Word preached! There are many who would give all they have to see such a sight! How sad is the opposite of this! An empty place of worship—people loafing about at home all the Sabbath, not caring to listen to the eternal Truth of God—that is a very melancholy state of things.
Cry aloud, spare not - Never was a louder cry against the hypocrisy, nor a more cutting reproof of the wickedness, of a people professing a national established religion, having all the forms of godliness without a particle of its power. This chapter has been often appointed to be read on political fast days for the success of wars carried on for - God knows what purposes, and originating in - God knows what motives. Politically speaking, was ever any thing more injudicious?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and relate to My people their transgression These are the Torah scholars, whose every inadvertent sin is counted as a transgression, for an error in study is accounted as an intentional sin.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קְרָ֤א | kera' | call out | H7121 → | 733 times |
| בְגָרוֹן֙ | vegaron | with a throat | H1627 → | |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תַּחְשֹׂ֔ךְ | tachsokh | you refrain | H2820 → | 28 times |
| כַּשּׁוֹפָ֖ר | kashofar | like <the> trumpet | H7782 → | 72 times |
| הָרֵ֣ם | harem | raise | H7311 → | 190 times |
| קוֹלֶ֑ךָ | kolecha | voice your | H6963 → | 506 times |
| וְהַגֵּ֤ד | vehaged | and declare | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לְעַמִּי֙ | leami | to people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| פִּשְׁעָ֔ם | pisham | transgression their | H6588 → | 93 times |
| וּלְבֵ֥ית | uleveit | and to [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֖ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| חַטֹּאתָֽם׃ | chatotam | sins their | H2403 → | 295 times |
קְרָ֤אcall out
kera'H7121 →733 times
בְגָרוֹן֙with a throat
vegaronH1627 →
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תַּחְשֹׂ֔ךְyou refrain
tachsokhH2820 →28 times
כַּשּׁוֹפָ֖רlike <the> trumpet
kashofarH7782 →72 times
הָרֵ֣םraise
haremH7311 →190 times
קוֹלֶ֑ךָvoice your
kolechaH6963 →506 times
וְהַגֵּ֤דand declare
vehagedH5046 →370 times
לְעַמִּי֙to people my
leamiH5971 →1873 times
פִּשְׁעָ֔םtransgression their
pishamH6588 →93 times
וּלְבֵ֥יתand to [the] house of
uleveitH1004 →2046 times
יַעֲקֹ֖בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
חַטֹּאתָֽם׃sins their
chatotamH2403 →295 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Titus 2:15Speak these things as you encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.
- 1 Timothy 4:12–13
Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
- Titus 1:13
This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sternly, so that they will be sound in the faith
- 1 Timothy 5:20
But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.
- Matthew 7:29
because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
- 2 Timothy 4:2
Through
Hosea 8:1Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
it leads to
- Hosea 6:7
But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.
- Deuteronomy 28:49
The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
- Jeremiah 4:13
Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!
- Hosea 6:7
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2308: “Ten Wrong Kinds of Hearers” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Maximus of Turin, SERMON 93:1; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 1 -- Prologue and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.