Study Desk

"Shout it aloud,^(a) do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.^(b) Declare to my people their rebellion^(c) and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.^(d)

For day after day they seek^(e) me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken^(f) the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near^(g) them.

‘Why have we fasted,'^(h) they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled⁽ⁱ⁾ ourselves, and you have not noticed?'^(j) "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please^(k) and exploit all your workers.

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,^(l) and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard^(m) on high.

Is this the kind of fast⁽ⁿ⁾ I have chosen, only a day for people to humble^(o) themselves? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed^(p) and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?^(q) Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord ?

"Is not this the kind of fasting^(r) I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice^(s) and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed^(t) free and break every yoke?^(u)

Is it not to share your food with the hungry^(v) and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter^(w)— when you see the naked, to clothe^(x) them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?^(y)

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,^(z) and your healing^(aa) will quickly appear; then your righteousness^[a](ab) will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.^(ac)

Then you will call,^(ad) and the Lord will answer;^(ae) you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger^(af) and malicious talk,^(ag)

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,^(ah) then your light^(ai) will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.^(aj)

The Lord will guide^(ak) you always; he will satisfy your needs^(al) in a sun-scorched land^(am) and will strengthen^(an) your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden,^(ao) like a spring^(ap) whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins^(aq) and will raise up the age-old foundations;^(ar) you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,^(as) Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath^(at) and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight^(au) and the Lord 's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,^(av)

then you will find your joy^(aw) in the Lord , and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights^(ax) of the land and to feast on the inheritance^(ay) of your father Jacob." For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^(az)