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Observances of Fasts

¹ "^(C1)Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise 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 to know My ways,
As a nation that has done ^(C2)righteousness
And ^(C3)has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight ^(C4)in the nearness of God.

³ 'Why have we ^(C1)fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not ^(F1)notice?'
Behold, on the ^(C2)day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.

⁴ "Behold, you fast for contention and ^(C1)strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to ^(C2)make your voice heard on high.

⁵ "Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing ^(F1)one's head like a reed
And for spreading out ^(C1)sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an ^(C2)acceptable day to the LORD?

⁶ "Is this not the fast which I choose,
To ^(C1)loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to ^(C2)let the oppressed go free
And ^(C3)break every yoke?

⁷ "Is it not to ^(C1)divide your bread ^(F1)with the hungry
And ^(C2)bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the ^(C3)naked, to cover him;
And not to ^(C4)hide yourself from your own flesh?

⁸ "Then your ^(C1)light will break out like the dawn,
And your ^(C2)recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your ^(C3)righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the ^(C4)LORD will be your rear guard.

⁹ "Then you will ^(C1)call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.'
If you ^(C2)remove the yoke from your midst,
The ^(F1)(C3)pointing of the finger and ^(C4)speaking wickedness,

¹⁰ And if you ^(F1)(C1)give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the ^(F2)desire 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 ^(F1)desire in scorched 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 ^(F2)fail.

¹² "Those from among you will ^(C1)rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will ^(C2)raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the ^(C3)breach,
The restorer of the ^(F1)streets in which to dwell.

Keeping the Sabbath

¹³ "If because of the sabbath, you ^(C1)turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a ^(C2)delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your ^(C3)own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And ^(C4)speaking your own word,

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