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True Fasts and Sabbaths

58 “Call with the throat; you must not keep back!
    lift up your voice like a trumpet,
and declare[a] to my people their rebellion,
    and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet[b] they seek me day by day,
    and they desire the knowledge of my ways
like a nation that practiced[c] righteousness,
    and had not forsaken the judgment of its God;
they ask me for righteous judgments,[d]
    they desire the closeness of God.
‘Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
    We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice it?’
Look! You find delight on the day of your fast,
    and you oppress all your workers!
Look! You fast to quarrel and strife,
    and to strike with a wicked fist.[e]
You shall not fast as you do today,[f]
    to make your voice heard[g] on the height.
Is the fast I choose like this,
    a day for humankind to humiliate himself[h]?
To bow his head like a reed,
    and make[i] his bed on sackcloth and ashes;
you call this a fast
    and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:1 Or “announce”
  2. Isaiah 58:2 Or “And”
  3. Isaiah 58:2 Literally “did”
  4. Isaiah 58:2 Literally “judgments of righteousness”
  5. Isaiah 58:4 Literally “fist of wickedness”
  6. Isaiah 58:4 Literally “the day”
  7. Isaiah 58:4 Literally “cause to hear your voice”
  8. Isaiah 58:5 Literally “his soul”
  9. Isaiah 58:5 Literally “he makes”

True Fasting

58 “Cry out loudly, don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a ram’s horn.
Tell my people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day
and delight to know my ways,
like a nation that does what is right
and does not abandon the justice of their God.
They ask me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God.”(A)

“Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?(B)
We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” [a]

“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.(C)
You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?(D)
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?

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Footnotes

  1. 58:3 These are Israel’s words to God.