Isa 58
1
Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up your voice as with a trumpet, and declare to my
people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities.
2
They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that had done righteousness,
and had not forsaken the judgement of their God: they now ask of me righteous judgement,
and desire to draw nigh to God,
3
saying, Why have we fasted, and you regard not? why have we afflicted our souls, and
you did not know it? Nay, in the days of your fasts you find your pleasures, and all
them that are under your power you wound.
4
If you fast for quarrels and strifes, and smite the lowly with your fists, wherefore
do you fast to me as you do this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying?
5
I have not chosen this fast, nor such a day for a man to afflict his soul; neither
though you should bend down your neck as a ring, and spread under you sackcloth and
ashes, neither thus shall you call a fast acceptable.
6
I have not chosen such a fast, says the Lord; but do you loose every burden of iniquity,
do you untie the knots of hard bargains, set the bruised free, and cancel every unjust
account.
7
Break your bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to your house: if you
see one naked, clothe him, and you shall not disregard the relations of your own seed.
8
Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall speedily spring
forth: and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall compass
you.
9
Then shall you cry, and God shall hearken to you; while you are yet speaking he will
say, Behold, I am here. If you remove from you the band, and the stretching forth
of the hands, and murmuring speech;
10
and if you give bread to the hungry from your heart, and satisfy the afflicted soul;
then shall your light spring up in darkness, and your darkness shall be as noon-day:
11
and your God shall be with you continually, and you shall be satisfied according as
your soul desires; and your bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a well-watered
garden, and as a fountain from which the water has not failed.
12
And your old waste desert places shall be built up, and your foundations shall last
through all generations; and you shall be called a repairer of breaches, and you shall
cause your paths between to be in peace.
13
If you turn away your foot from the sabbath, so as not to do your Gr. pleasures pleasure on the holy days, and shall call
the sabbaths delightful, holy to God; if
you shall not lift up your foot to work, nor speak a word in anger out of your mouth,
14
then shall you trust on the Lord; and he shall bring you up to the good places of
the land, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of the
Lord has spoken this.