Isaiah 58:5-11

English Standard Version

⁵^(A)Is such the fast that I choose,
    ^(B)a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
    and a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    ^(C)to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps ^(D)of the yoke,
to let the oppressed^[a] go free,
    and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not ^(E)to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    ^(F)and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸^(G)Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    ^(H)and your healing shall spring up speedily;
^(I)your righteousness shall go before you;
    ^(J)the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away ^(K)the yoke from your midst,
    ^(L)the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰^(M)if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
^(N)then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be ^(O)like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.