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Observances of Fasts

¹ "^(C1)Cry aloud, do not hold back;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their ^(C2)transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.

² "Yet they ^(C1)seek Me day by day and delight superficially to know My ways,
As if they were in reality a nation that has done ^(C2)righteousness
And ^(C3)has not abandoned (turned away from) the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me righteous judgments,
They delight in the ^(C4)nearness of God.

³ 'Why have we ^(C1)fasted,' they say, 'and You do not see it?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?'
Hear this O Israel, on the ^(C2)day of your fast when you should be grieving for your sins you find something you desire to do,
And you force your hired servants to work instead of stopping all work, as the law teaches. ^(VR1)

⁴ "The facts are that you fast only for ^(C1)strife and brawling and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You do not fast as you do today to ^(C2)make your voice heard on high.

⁵ "Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul?
Is it only to bow down his head like a reed
And to make ^(C1)sackcloth and ashes as a bed pretending to have a repentant heart?
Do you call this a fast and a day ^(C2)pleasing to the LORD?

⁶ "Rather is this not the fast which I choose,
To ^(C1)undo the bonds of wickedness,
To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke,
To ^(C2)let the oppressed go free
And ^(C3)break apart every enslaving yoke? ^(VR1)

⁷ "Is it not to ^(C1)divide your bread with the hungry
And ^(C2)bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the ^(C3)naked, that you cover him,
And not to ^(C4)hide yourself from the needs of your own flesh and blood?

⁸ "Then your ^(C1)light will break out like the dawn,
And your ^(C2)healing (restoration, new life) will quickly spring forth;
Your ^(C3)righteousness will go before you leading you to peace and prosperity,
The glory of the ^(C4)LORD will be your rear guard. ^(VR1)

⁹ "Then you will ^(C1)call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry for help, and He will say, 'Here I am.'
If you ^(C2)take away from your midst the yoke of oppression,
The finger ^(C3)pointed in scorn toward the oppressed or the godly, and every form of ^(C4)wicked (sinful, unjust) speech, ^(VR1)

¹⁰ And if you ^(C1)offer yourself to assist the hungry
And satisfy the ^(F1)need of the afflicted,
Then your ^(C2)light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.

¹¹ "And the ^(C1)LORD will continually guide you,
And ^(C2)satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places,
And ^(C3)give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a ^(C4)watered garden,
And like a ^(C5)spring of water whose waters do not fail.

¹² "And your people will ^(C1)rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will ^(C2)raise up and restore the age-old foundations of buildings that have been laid waste;
You will be called Repairer of the ^(C3)Breach,
Restorer of Streets ^(F1)with Dwellings.

Keeping the Sabbath

¹³ "If you ^(C1)turn back your foot from ^(F1)unnecessary travel on the Sabbath,
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a spiritual ^(C2)delight, and the holy day of the LORD honorable,
And honor it, not going your ^(C3)own way
Or ^(F2)engaging in your own pleasure
Or ^(C4)speaking your own idle words,

¹⁴ Then you will take ^(C1)pleasure in the LORD,
And I will make you ride ^(C2)on the high places of the earth,
And I will feed you with the promised heritage of Jacob your father;
For the ^(C3)mouth of the LORD has spoken." ^(VR1)