True and False Fasting
1
"Cry aloud; do not hold back; 1lift up your voice like a trumpet; 2declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.
2
3Yet 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
4'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,a 5and 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
6Is such the fast that I choose, 7a 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: 8to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps 9of the yoke, to let the oppressedb go free, and to break every yoke?
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Is it not 10to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, 11and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8
12Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, 13and your healing shall spring up speedily; 14your righteousness shall go before you; 15the 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 16the yoke from your midst, 17the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
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18if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, 19then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
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And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be 20like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
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21And 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.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)