True and False Fasting

1“Cry aloud; do not hold back;

lift up your voice like a trumpet;

declare to my people their transgression,

to the house of Jacob their sins.

2Yet they seek me daily

and delight to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that did righteousness

and did not forsake the judgement of their God;

they ask of me righteous judgements;

they delight to draw near to God.

3‘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,58:3 Or pursue your own business

and oppress all your workers.

4Behold, 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.

5Is such the fast that I choose,

a 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:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed58:6 Or bruised 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 him,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

8Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up speedily;

your righteousness shall go before you;

the glory of the LORD shall be your rearguard.

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

you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you take away the yoke from your midst,

the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

10if you pour yourself out for the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness

and your gloom be as the noonday.

11And the LORD will guide you continually

and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters do not fail.

12And 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“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,

from doing your pleasure58:13 Or business on my holy day,

and call the Sabbath a delight

and the holy day of the LORD honourable;

if you honour it, not going your own ways,

or seeking your own pleasure,58:13 Or pursuing your own business or talking idly;58:13 Hebrew or speaking a word

14then you shall take delight in the LORD,

and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;58:14 Or of the land

I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,

for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”