Isaiah 58:5–10

⁵Is such the fast that I choose,

a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush

and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord?^*

⁶Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?^*

⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?^*

⁸Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator^b shall go before you;

the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.^*

⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”

If you remove the yoke from among you,

the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,^*

¹⁰if you offer your food to the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,

then your light shall rise in the darkness

and your gloom be like the noonday.^*