True Fasting

58 “Cry out loudly, q 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.” r

3 “Why have we fasted, but You have not seen? s

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

“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? v

Will you call this a fast

and a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 Isn’t the fast I choose:

To break the chains of wickedness, w

to untie the ropes of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free,

and to tear off every yoke? x

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

to bring the poor and homeless into your house,

to clothe the naked when you see him, z

and not to ignore a your own flesh and blood? b

8 Then your light will appear like the dawn,

and your recovery will come quickly. c

Your righteousness will go before you, d

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

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

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

If you get rid of the yoke among you, g

the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, h

10 and if you offer yourself i to the hungry,

and satisfy the afflicted one,

then your light will shine in the darkness, j

and your night will be like noonday.

11 The Lord will always lead you,

satisfy you in a parched land,

and strengthen your bones.

You will be like a watered garden k

and like a spring whose waters never run dry. l

12 Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins; m

you will restore the foundations laid long ago; n o

you will be called the repairer of broken walls,

the restorer of streets where people live.

13 “If you keep from desecrating p the Sabbath, q

from doing whatever you want on My holy day;

if you call the Sabbath a delight,

and the holy day of the Lord honorable;

if you honor it, not going your own ways, r

seeking your own pleasure, or talking too much; s

14 then you will delight yourself in the Lord, t

and I will make you ride over the heights of the land, u

and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. v