Now it will come about that instead of balsam oil there will be a stench; Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; Instead of fine clothes, a robe of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty.

In their streets they have put on sackcloth; On their housetops and in their public squares Everyone is wailing, overcome with weeping.

at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, going naked and barefoot.

Therefore on that day the Lord God of armies called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.

Tremble, you women who are at ease; Be troubled, you complacent daughters; Strip, undress, and put sackcloth on your waist,

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help

Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord.

Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

I clothe the heavens with blackness, And make sackcloth their covering.”

Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?