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

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.^(A)

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please^(D)
    and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,^(E)
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard^(F) on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast^(G) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble^(H) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed^(I)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?^(J)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting^(K) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice^(L)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed^(M) free
    and break every yoke?^(N)
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry^(O)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter^(P)—
when you see the naked, to clothe^(Q) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?^(R)

¹⁸ I have seen their ways, but I will heal^(A) them;
    I will guide^(B) them and restore comfort^(C) to Israel’s mourners,
¹⁹     creating praise on their lips.^(D)
Peace, peace,^(E) to those far and near,”^(F)
    says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”