Isaiah 58:6–14

⁶“I will tell you the kind of fast I want:

Free the people you have put in prison unfairly

and undo their chains.

Free those to whom you are unfair

and stop their hard labor.

⁷Share your food with the hungry

and bring poor, homeless people into your own homes.

When you see someone who has no clothes, give him yours,

and don’t refuse to help your own relatives.

⁸Then your light will shine like the dawn,

and your wounds will quickly heal.

Your God will walk before you,

and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

⁹Then you will call out, and the Lord will answer.

You will cry out, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’

“If you stop making trouble for others,

if you stop using cruel words and pointing your finger at others,

¹⁰if you feed those who are hungry

and take care of the needs of those who are troubled,

then your light will shine in the darkness,

and you will be bright like sunshine at noon.

¹¹The Lord will always lead you.

He will satisfy your needs in dry lands

and give strength to your bones.

You will be like a garden that has much water,

like a spring that never runs dry.

¹²Your people will rebuild the old cities that are now in ruins;

you will rebuild their foundations.

You will be known for repairing the broken places

and for rebuilding the roads and houses.

¹³“You must obey God’s law about the Sabbath

and not do what pleases yourselves on that holy day.

You should call the Sabbath a joyful day

and honor it as the Lord’s holy day.

You should honor it by not doing whatever you please

nor saying whatever you please on that day.

¹⁴Then you will find joy in the Lord,

and I will carry you to the high places above the earth.

I will let you eat the crops of the land your ancestor Jacob had.”

The Lord has said these things.