Isaiah 58
1 Shout at the top of your voice; do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Announce to my people their rebellion, and to the house of Jacob its sins.
2 They seek me day after day and delight in learning my ways, like a nation that does what is right and has not abandoned the justice of its God. They ask me for just rulings and delight in drawing near to God.
3 “Why have we fasted, and you have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?” Look: on your fast day, you pursue your own interests and put all your workers under pressure.
4 Look: you fast in order to quarrel and argue, and to strike with a wicked fist. You are not fasting today in a way that makes your voice heard on high.
5 Is this the fast I choose, a day for someone to humble themselves? Is it to bow the head like a reed and spread out sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 Isn’t this the fast I choose: to loosen the chains of wickedness, untie the cords of the yoke, set the oppressed free, and break every yoke?
7 Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house? When you see someone naked, clothe them, and do not turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your healing will spring up quickly. Your righteousness will go ahead of you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.” Remove the yoke from among you, the pointing finger, and wicked speech.
10 Offer the hungry what you yourself desire, and satisfy the needs of the afflicted. Then your light will shine in the darkness, and your gloom will be like midday.
11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy you in dry places and strengthen your bones. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never run dry.
12 Those who come from you will rebuild the ancient ruins. You will raise the foundations of many generations, and you will be called the one who repairs breaches, who restores paths for people to live on.
13 Turn your foot away from the Sabbath, and do not do as you please on my holy day. Call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable. Honor it by not going your own ways, pursuing what you want, or speaking empty words.
14 Then you will delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride over the heights of the land and eat from the inheritance of Jacob your father—for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
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