Isaiah 58

¹Cry aloud ; do not hold back ; lift up your voice like a trumpet ; declare to my people their transgression , to the house of Jacob their sins .

²Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways , as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God ; they ask of me righteous judgments ; they delight to draw near to God .

³Why have we fasted , and you see it not ? Why have we humbled ourselves , and you take no knowledge of it? Behold , in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure , and oppress all your workers .

⁴Behold , you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist . Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high .

⁵Is such the fast that I choose , a day for a person to humble himself ? Is it to bow down his head like a reed , and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast , and a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶Is not this the fast that I choose : to loose the bonds of wickedness , to undo the straps of the yoke , to let the oppressed go free , and to break every yoke ?

⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house ; when you see the naked , to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh ?

⁸Then shall your light break forth like the dawn , and your healing shall spring up speedily ; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard .

⁹Then you shall call , and the Lord will answer ; you shall cry , and he will say , Here I am. If you take away the yoke from your midst , the pointing of the finger , and speaking wickedness ,

¹⁰if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted , then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday .

¹¹And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong ; and you shall be like a watered garden , like a spring of water , whose waters do not fail .

¹²And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt ; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations ; you shall be called the repairer of the breach , the restorer of streets to dwell in .

¹³If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath , from doing your pleasure on my holy day , and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable ; if you honor it, not going your own ways , or seeking your own pleasure , or talking idly ;

¹⁴then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth ; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father , for the mouth of the Lord has spoken .