1Shout aloud like a trumpet, do not hold back. Raise your voice and declare to My people, the house of Jacob, their transgressions, their sins. 2For day after day they seek Me, and seem to delight to know My ways, like a nation that does right; not forsaking the ordinances of their God. They ask of Me for just laws; they seem to take delight in being near to God. 3They ask, “Why have we fasted and humbled ourselves, and You do not seem to notice?” My answer is, “I will tell you why. It is because the day of your fasting is for your own pleasure – to feel good about yourselves; and all the while, you oppress and exploit your servants. 4Your fasting ends in strife and debate, and hitting one another with wicked intent. You cannot expect that kind of fasting to ever bring you anywhere near Me. 5Is this the kind of fasting that I have chosen? A day for a man to humble himself before Me? Is it only to bow your head like a bulrush reed bent by the wind, and to don sackcloth and spread ashes upon you? Is this what you call fasting? Do you think this is acceptable to the LORD? 6Is not this the fast that I have chosen - to free those who are wrongfully imprisoned; to lighten heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke? 7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring the outcasts and the poor into your house? When you see the naked, that you cover them; and that you do not turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9Then when you shall call, the LORD shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, ‘Here I am.’ If you do away with the oppression in your midst, the finger-pointing, and malicious gossip; 10And if you give of yourself to feed the hungry, and come to the aid of those in trouble, then shall your light rise in your darkness like the noonday: 11And the LORD shall guide you continually, and give you water when you are dry, and restore your strength; and you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a never-failing spring of water. 12And some you shall rebuild the old ruins; you shall raise up the age-old foundations, and you shall be called, ‘The Repairer of the broken walls’, ‘The Restorer of streets and dwellings.’

13If you refrain from violating the Sabbath and doing whatever you please on My holy day; if you call the sabbath your delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and honor Him, by not going your own ways, nor pursuing your own pleasure, nor speaking idle words; 14Then you shall find your delight in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride in triumph upon the high places of the earth, and you shall feast upon the heritage of your father, Jacob; for I, the LORD, have spoken it.”

Isaiah 59