Fasting that Pleases God
1 “Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
# Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek Me daily,
And delight to know My ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;
They take delight in approaching God.
3 ‘Whyhave we fasted,’theysay,‘and You have not seen?
# Whyhave weafflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’
“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And exploit all your laborers.
4 Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast asyoudothis day,
To make your voice heard on high.
5 Isit a fast that I have chosen,
# A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Isitto bow down his head like a bulrush,
# Andto spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to theLord?
6 “Isthis not the fast that I have chosen:
# Toloose the bonds of wickedness,
# To undo the heavy burdens,
# To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Isitnotto share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
# When you see the naked, that you cover him,
# And not hide yourself fromyour own flesh?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
# The glory of theLordshall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and theLordwill answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here Iam.’
“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
# The pointing of the finger, andspeaking wickedness,
10 Ifyou extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shallbeas the noonday.
11 TheLordwill guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you
# Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
13 “Ifyou turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
Fromdoing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holydayof theLordhonorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speakingyourownwords,
14 Then you shall delight yourself in theLord;
# And I will cause you toride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
# The mouth of theLordhas spoken.”