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58 “Cry aloud! Don’t spare!
    Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Declare to my people their disobedience,
    and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek me daily,
    and delight to know my ways.
As a nation that did righteousness,
    and didn’t forsake the ordinance of their God,
they ask of me righteous judgments.
    They delight to draw near to God.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see?
    Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’

“Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
    and oppress all your laborers.
Behold, you fast for strife and contention,
    and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
    You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the fast that I have chosen?
    A day for a man to humble his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself?
Will you call this a fast,
    and an acceptable day to Yahweh?

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Observances of Fasts

58 (A)Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their (B)wrongdoing,
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they (C)seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done (D)righteousness
And (E)has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight (F)in the nearness of God.
‘Why have we (G)fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not [a]notice?’
Behold, on the (H)day of your fast you find your desire,
And oppress all your workers.
Behold, you fast for contention and (I)strife, and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you have done today to (J)make your voice heard on high!
Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it for bowing [b]one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out (K)sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an (L)acceptable day to the Lord?

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:3 Lit know
  2. Isaiah 58:5 Lit his