Isaiah 58

58 ¹ Shout aloud, do not hold back; raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins.

² Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, like a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the justice of their Father. They ask me for righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to our Father. ³ 'Why have we fasted, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no notice?' Look — on the day of your fast you pursue your own desire, and you drive all your workers hard.

⁴ Look — you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard in heaven. ⁵ Is this the kind of fast I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it only to bow the head like a reed, and to spread coarse cloth and ashes beneath him? Is this what you call a fast, a day pleasing to your Father?

⁶ Is not this the fast I choose: to loosen the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to break every yoke? ⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh and blood?

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will spring up quickly; your righteousness will go before you, and my glory will be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you will call, and I will answer; you will cry for help, and I will say, 'Here I am.' If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing finger and malicious talk, ¹⁰ if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like noonday. ¹¹ I will guide you continually, and satisfy you in scorched places; I will strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail. ¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age-old foundations. You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Live In. ^a a v12 A 'breach' is a gap or break in a city wall; the title pictures someone who patches the damage and restores the defenses.

¹³ If you keep your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from pursuing your own desire on my holy day; if you call the Sabbath a delight and honor my holy day; if you honor it by not going your own way, not pursuing your own desire or speaking idle words, ¹⁴ then you will find your delight in me, 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 your Father has spoken.