CHAPTER 58
“Cry
aloud,
do not
hold back!
Raise
your voice
like a trumpet.
Declare
to My people
their transgression
and to the house
of Jacob
their sins.
For
day
after day
they seek Me
and delight
to know
My ways,
like a nation
that
does
what is right
and does not
forsake
the justice
of their God.
They ask
Me for righteous
judgments;
they delight
in the nearness
of God."
“Why
have we fasted,
and You have not
seen?
Why have we humbled
ourselves,
and You have not
noticed?”
“Behold,
on the day
of your fast,
you do
as you please,
and you oppress
all
your workers.
You fast
with contention
and strife
to strike
viciously
with your fist.
You cannot
fast
as you do today
and have your voice
be heard
on high.
Is
this
the fast
I have chosen,
a day
for a man
to deny
himself,
to bow
his head
like a reed,
and to spread out
sackcloth
and ashes?
Will you call
this
a fast
and a day
acceptable
to the LORD?
Is not
the
fast
I have chosen
to break
the chains
of wickedness,
to untie
the cords
of the yoke,
to set
the oppressed
free,
and tear off
every
yoke?
Is it not
to share
your bread
with the hungry,
to bring the poor
and homeless
into
your home,
to clothe
the naked
when
you see him,
and not
to turn away
from your own flesh and blood?
Then
your light
will break forth
like the dawn,
and your healing
will come
quickly.
Your righteousness
will go
before you,
and the glory
of the LORD
will be your rear guard.
Then
you will call,
and the LORD
will answer;
you will cry out,
and He will say,
‘Here I am.’
If
you remove
the yoke
from your midst,
the pointing
of the finger
and malicious
talk,
and if you give
yourself
to the hungry
and satisfy
the afflicted
soul,
then your light
will go forth
in the darkness,
and your night
will be like noonday.
The LORD
will always
guide you;
He will satisfy
you
in a sun-scorched land
and strengthen
your frame.
You will be
like a well-watered
garden,
like a spring
whose waters
never
fail.
Your people
will rebuild
the ancient
ruins;
you will restore
the age-old
foundations;
you will be called
Repairer
of the Breach,
Restorer
of Streets
of Dwelling.
If
you turn
your foot
from breaking the Sabbath,
from doing
as you please
on My holy
day,
if you call
the Sabbath
a delight,
and the LORD’s
holy day
honorable,
if you honor it
by not going
your own way
or seeking
your own pleasure
or speaking
idle words,
then
you will delight
yourself in
the LORD,
and I will make you ride
on
the heights
of the land
and feed you
with the heritage
of your father
Jacob.”
For
the mouth
of the LORD
has spoken.