True and False Fasting
“Cry aloud; do not hold back;
alift up your voice like a trumpet;
bdeclare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 aYet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
3 a‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
band oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 aIs such the fast that I choose,
ba day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
ato loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps bof the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not ato share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
band not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 aThen shall your light break forth like the dawn,
band your healing shall spring up speedily;
cyour righteousness shall go before you;
dthe glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away athe yoke from your midst,
bthe pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 aif you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
bthen shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be alike a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
12 aAnd your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
13 a“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking byour own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
aand I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
bI will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
cfor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”