TRUE FASTING

58 “Cry out loudly, don’t hold back!

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Tell my people their transgression

and the house of Jacob their sins.

2 They seek me day after day

and delight to know my ways,

like a nation that does what is right

and does not abandon the justice of their God.

They ask me for righteous judgments;

they delight in the nearness of God.”s

3 “Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?t

We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!”H

“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,

and oppress all your workers.u

4 You fast with contention and strife

to strike viciously with your fist.

You cannot fast as you do today,

hoping to make your voice heard on high.

5 Will the fast I choose be like this:

A day for a person to deny himself,

to bow his head like a reed,

and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?a

Will you call this a fast

and a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 Isn’t this the fast I choose:

To break the chains of wickedness,b

to untie the ropes of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free,

and to tear off every yoke?c

7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,d

to bring the poor and homeless into your house,

to clothe the naked when you see him,e

and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?A,f

8 Then your light will appear like the dawn,

and your recovery will come quickly.g

Your righteousness will go before you,h

and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.i

9 At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;j

when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you get rid of the yoke among you,

the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,k