Isaiah 57:15-21

New International Version

¹⁵For this is what the high and exalted^(A) One says—
    he who lives forever,^(B) whose name is holy:
“I live in a high^(C) and holy place,
    but also with the one who is contrite^(D) and lowly in spirit,^(E)
to revive the spirit of the lowly
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.^(F)
¹⁶I will not accuse^(G) them forever,
    nor will I always be angry,^(H)
for then they would faint away because of me—
    the very people^(I) I have created.
¹⁷I was enraged by their sinful greed;^(J)
    I punished them, and hid^(K) my face in anger,
    yet they kept on in their willful ways.^(L)
¹⁸I have seen their ways, but I will heal^(M) them;
    I will guide^(N) them and restore comfort^(O) to Israel’s mourners,
¹⁹    creating praise on their lips.^(P)
Peace, peace,^(Q) to those far and near,”^(R)
    says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”
²⁰But the wicked^(S) are like the tossing sea,^(T)
    which cannot rest,
    whose waves cast up mire^(U) and mud.
²¹“There is no peace,”^(V) says my God, “for the wicked.”^(W)

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Mark 2:13-22

New International Version

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners^(A)

¹³Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him,^(B) and he began to teach them. ¹⁴As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”^(C) Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees^(D) saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”^(E)

¹⁷On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^(F)

Jesus Questioned About Fasting^(G)

¹⁸Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.^(H) Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

¹⁹Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them,^(I) and on that day they will fast.

²¹“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²²And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

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Isaiah 58

New International Version

True Fasting

58 “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)
²For 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.
³‘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.
⁴Your 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.
⁵Is 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?

⁶“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)
⁷Is 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)
⁸Then 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)
⁹Then 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)
¹⁰and 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)
¹¹The 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.
¹²Your 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.

¹³“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)
¹⁴then 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)

Footnotes

Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One

Hebrews 3:12-4:13

New International Version

¹²See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.^(A) ¹³But encourage one another daily,^(B) as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.^(C) ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold^(D) our original conviction firmly to the very end.^(E) ¹⁵As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”^[a]^(F)

¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?^(G) ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?^(H) ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest^(I) if not to those who disobeyed?^(J) ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.^(K)

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.^(L) ²For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.^[b]^(M) ³Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”^[c]^(N)

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”^[d]^(O) ⁵And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”^(P)

⁶Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience,^(Q) ⁷God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”^[e]^(R)

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest,^(S) God would not have spoken^(T) later about another day. ⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,^[f]^(U) just as God did from his.^(V) ¹¹Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.^(W)

¹²For the word of God^(X) is alive^(Y) and active.^(Z) Sharper than any double-edged sword,^(AA) it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.^(AB) ¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.^(AC) Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Footnotes

Hebrews 3:15 Psalm 95:7,8
Hebrews 4:2 Some manuscripts because those who heard did not combine it with faith
Hebrews 4:3 Psalm 95:11; also in verse 5
Hebrews 4:4 Gen. 2:2
Hebrews 4:7 Psalm 95:7,8
Hebrews 4:10 Or labor