58 Shout loudly; don’t hold back;
    raise your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their crime,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
² They seek me day after day,
    desiring knowledge of my ways
    like a nation that acted righteously,
    that didn’t abandon their God.
They ask me for righteous judgments,
    wanting to be close to God.
³ “Why do we fast and you don’t see;
    why afflict ourselves and you don’t notice?”
Yet on your fast day you do whatever you want,
    and oppress all your workers.
⁴ You quarrel and brawl, and then you fast;
    you hit each other violently with your fists.
You shouldn’t fast as you are doing today
    if you want to make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I choose,
    a day of self-affliction,
    of bending one’s head like a reed
    and of lying down in mourning clothing and ashes?
    Is this what you call a fast,
        a day acceptable to the Lord?

51 Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
    Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!
² Wash me completely clean of my guilt;
    purify me from my sin!
³ Because I know my wrongdoings,
    my sin is always right in front of me.
⁴ I’ve sinned against you—you alone.
    I’ve committed evil in your sight.
That’s why you are justified when you render your verdict,
    completely correct when you issue your judgment.
⁵ Yes, I was born in guilt, in sin,
    from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁶ And yes, you want truth in the most hidden places;
    you teach me wisdom in the most secret space.^[a]