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Fasting from injustice

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.
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.
“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.
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.
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?

Isn’t this the fast I choose:
    releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,
    setting free the mistreated,
    and breaking every yoke?
Isn’t it sharing your bread with the hungry
    and bringing the homeless poor into your house,
    covering the naked when you see them,
    and not hiding from your own family?
Then your light will break out like the dawn,
    and you will be healed quickly.
Your own righteousness will walk before you,
    and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and God will say, “I’m here.”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the finger-pointing, the wicked speech;
10     if you open your heart to the hungry,
    and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted,
    your light will shine in the darkness,
    and your gloom will be like the noon.
11 The Lord will guide you continually
    and provide for you, even in parched places.
    He will rescue your bones.
You will be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water that won’t run dry.
12 They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account;
    the foundations of generations past you will restore.
You will be called Mender of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Livable Streets.

13 If you stop trampling the Sabbath,
    stop doing whatever you want on my holy day,
    and consider the Sabbath a delight,
    sacred to the Lord, honored,
    and honor it instead of doing things your way,
    seeking what you want and doing business as usual,
14     then you will take delight in the Lord.
    I will let you ride on the heights of the earth;
    I will sustain you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob.
    The mouth of the Lord has spoken.

El verdadero ayuno

58 »¡Grita con toda tu fuerza, no te reprimas!
    Alza tu voz como trompeta.
Denuncia a mi pueblo sus rebeldías;
    sus pecados, a los descendientes de Jacob.
Porque día tras día me buscan,
    y desean conocer mis caminos,
como si fueran una nación
    que practicara la justicia,
como si no hubieran abandonado
    mis mandamientos.
Me piden decisiones justas,
    y desean acercarse a mí,
y hasta me reclaman:
    “¿Para qué ayunamos, si no lo tienes en cuenta?
    ¿Para qué nos afligimos, si tú no lo notas?”

»Pero el día en que ayunáis,
    hacéis negocios y explotáis a vuestros obreros.
Vosotros solo ayunáis para pelear y reñir,
    y daros puñetazos a mansalva.
Si queréis que el cielo atienda vuestros ruegos,
    ¡ayunad, pero no como ahora lo hacéis!
¿Acaso el ayuno que he escogido
    es solo un día para que el hombre se mortifique?
¿Y solo para que incline la cabeza como un junco,
    haga duelo y se cubra de ceniza?
¿A eso llamáis vosotros día de ayuno
    y día aceptable para el Señor?

»El ayuno que he escogido,
    ¿no es más bien romper las cadenas de injusticia
    y desatar las correas del yugo,
poner en libertad a los oprimidos
    y romper toda atadura?
¿No es acaso el ayuno compartir tu pan con el hambriento
    y dar refugio a los pobres sin techo,
vestir al desnudo
    y no dejar de lado a tus semejantes?
Si así procedes,
    tu luz despuntará como la aurora,
    y al instante llegará tu sanidad;
tu justicia te abrirá el camino,
    y la gloria del Señor te seguirá.
Llamarás, y el Señor responderá;
    pedirás ayuda, y él dirá: “¡Aquí estoy!”

»Si desechas el yugo de opresión,
    el dedo acusador y la lengua maliciosa,
10 si te dedicas a ayudar a los hambrientos
    y a saciar la necesidad del desvalido,
entonces brillará tu luz en las tinieblas,
    y como el mediodía será tu noche.
11 El Señor te guiará siempre;
    te saciará en tierras resecas,
    y fortalecerá tus huesos.
Serás como jardín bien regado,
    como manantial cuyas aguas no se agotan.
12 Tu pueblo reconstruirá las ruinas antiguas
    y levantará los cimientos de antaño;
serás llamado “reparador de muros derruidos”,
    “restaurador de calles transitables”.

13 »Si dejas de profanar el sábado,
    y no haces negocios en mi día santo;
si llamas al sábado “delicia”,
    y al día santo del Señor, “honorable”;
si te abstienes de profanarlo,
    y lo honras no haciendo negocios
    ni profiriendo palabras inútiles,
14 entonces hallarás tu gozo en el Señor;
    sobre las cumbres de la tierra te haré cabalgar,
y haré que te deleites
    en la herencia de tu padre Jacob».
            El Señor mismo lo ha dicho.

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)
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)
10 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)
11 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.
12 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.

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)
14 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)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One