True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,u do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.v

Declare to my people their rebellionw

and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.x

2 For day after day they seeky me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsakenz the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come neara them.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’b they say,

‘and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbledc ourselves,

and you have not noticed?’d

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you pleasee

and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,f

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heardg on high.

5 Is this the kind of fasth I have chosen,

only a day for people to humblei themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reedj

and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?k

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 “Is not this the kind of fastingl I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injusticem

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressedn free

and break every yoke?o

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungryp

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelterq—

when you see the naked, to clother them,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?s

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,t

and your healingu will quickly appear;

then your righteousnessa v will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.w

9 Then you will call,x and the Lord will answer;y

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing fingerz and malicious talk,a

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,b

then your lightc will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.d

11 The Lord will guidee you always;

he will satisfy your needsf in a sun-scorched landg

and will strengthenh your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,i

like a springj whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruinsk

and will raise up the age-old foundations;l

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,m

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbathn

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delighto

and the Lord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,p

14 then you will find your joyq in the Lord,

and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heightsr of the land

and to feast on the inheritances of your father Jacob.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.t

A Prophecy Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that the supreme commander,o sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdodp and attacked and captured it—2 at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz.q He said to him, “Take off the sackclothr from your body and the sandalss from your feet.” And he did so, going around strippedt and barefoot.u

3 Then the Lord said, “Just as my servantv Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years,w as a signx and portenty against Egyptz and Cush,a a 4 so the kingb of Assyria will lead away strippedc and barefoot the Egyptian captivesd and Cushitee exiles, young and old, with buttocks baredf—to Egypt’s shame.g 5 Those who trustedh in Cushi and boasted in Egyptj will be dismayed and put to shame.k 6 In that dayl the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happenedm to those we relied on,n those we fled to for helpo and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?p’ ”

A Prophecy Against Babylon

21 A prophecyq against the Desertr by the Sea:

Like whirlwindss sweeping through the southland,t

an invader comes from the desert,

from a land of terror.

2 A direu vision has been shown to me:

The traitor betrays,v the looter takes loot.

Elam,w attack! Media,x lay siege!

I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

3 At this my body is racked with pain,y

pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;z

I am staggered by what I hear,

I am bewildereda by what I see.

4 My heartb falters,

fear makes me tremble;c

the twilight I longed for

has become a horrord to me.

5 They set the tables,

they spread the rugs,

they eat, they drink!e

Get up, you officers,

oil the shields!f

6 This is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, post a lookoutg

and have him report what he sees.

7 When he sees chariotsh

with teams of horses,

riders on donkeys

or riders on camels,i

let him be alert,

fully alert.”

8 And the lookouta j shouted,

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;

every night I stay at my post.

9 Look, here comes a man in a chariotk

with a team of horses.

And he gives back the answer:

‘Babylonl has fallen,m has fallen!

All the images of its godsn

lie shatteredo on the ground!’ ”

10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,p

I tell you what I have heard

from the Lord Almighty,

from the God of Israel.

A Prophecy Against Edom

11 A prophecy against Dumahb:q

Someone calls to me from Seir,r

“Watchman, what is left of the night?

Watchman, what is left of the night?”

12 The watchman replies,

“Morning is coming, but also the night.

If you would ask, then ask;

and come back yet again.”

A Prophecy Against Arabia

13 A prophecys against Arabia:t

You caravans of Dedanites,u

who camp in the thickets of Arabia,

14 bring water for the thirsty;

you who live in Tema,v

bring food for the fugitives.

15 They fleew from the sword,x

from the drawn sword,

from the bent bow

and from the heat of battle.

16 This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contracty would count it, all the splendorz of Kedara will come to an end. 17 The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.b” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.c