Isaiah
58 “Call out full-throated; do not hold back!
Raise your voice like a horn.
Proclaim to my people their revolt,+
To the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day after day,
And they express delight to know my ways,
As if they were a nation that had practiced righteousness
And had not abandoned the justice of their God.+
They ask me for righteous judgments,
Delighting to draw close to God:+
3 ‘Why do you not see when we fast?+
And why do you not notice when we afflict ourselves?’*+
4 Your fasting ends in quarrels and fights,
And you strike with the fist of wickedness.
You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice heard in heaven.
5 Should the fast that I choose be like this,
As a day for someone to afflict himself,*
To bow down his head like a rush,
To make his bed on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast and a day pleasing to Jehovah?
6 No, this is the fast that I choose:
To remove the fetters of wickedness,
To untie the bands of the yoke bar,+
To let the oppressed go free,+
And to break in half every yoke bar;
7 It is to share your bread with the hungry,+
To bring the poor and homeless into your house,
To clothe someone naked when you see him,+
And not to turn your back on your own flesh.
Your righteousness will go before you,
And the glory of Jehovah will be your rear guard.+
9 Then you will call, and Jehovah will answer;
You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am!’
If you remove from among you the yoke bar
And stop pointing your finger and speaking maliciously,+
10 If you grant to the hungry what you yourself desire*+
And satisfy those who are afflicted,*
Then your light will shine even in the darkness,
And your gloom will be like midday.+
11 Jehovah will always lead you
And satisfy you* even in a parched land;+
He will invigorate your bones,
And you will become like a well-watered garden,+
Like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account,+
And you will restore the foundations of past generations.+
13 If because of the Sabbath you refrain* from pursuing your own interests* on my holy day+
And you call the Sabbath an exquisite delight, a holy day of Jehovah, a day to be glorified,+
And you glorify it rather than pursuing your own interests and speaking idle words,
14 Then you will find your exquisite delight in Jehovah,
And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth.+