Isaiah 58:1-5

Evangelical Heritage Version

Cry out with a full-throated shout.
Do not hold back.
Shout like the blast of a ram’s horn.
Declare to my people their rebellious deeds.
Declare to the house of Jacob their sins.
² They seek me day by day,
and they are delighted to know my ways,
    as if they were a nation that does what is right,
    as if they had not forsaken the just ways of their God.
They ask me for just verdicts.
They are delighted to approach God:
³ “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why do we afflict ourselves, but you are not aware?”
    This is what you do!
    On the same day when you fast, you do whatever you please,
and you oppress all your workers.
⁴ You fast so you can fight and quarrel,
so you can strike with a wicked fist.
You should not fast the way you are doing it today
if you expect God on high to hear your voice.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast that I would choose:
    a day when a person afflicts himself
    and bows his head like a reed
    and makes his bed on sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast, a day to gain the Lord’s favor?