" aCry loudly
, do not hold
back
; Raise
your voice
like a trumpet
, And declare
to My people
their btransgression
And to the house
of Jacob
their sins
.
"Yet they aseek Me day
by day
and delight
to know
My ways
, As a nation
that has done
brighteousness
And chas not forsaken
the ordinance
of their God
. They ask
Me for just
decisions
, They delight
din the nearness
of God
.
`Why have we afasted
and You do not see
? Why have we humbled
ourselves
and You do not 1notice
?' Behold
, on the bday
of your fast
you find
your desire
, And drive
hard
all
your workers
.
"Behold, you fast
for contention
and astrife
and to strike
with a wicked
fist
. You do not fast
like you do today
to bmake
your voice
heard
on high
.
"Is it a fast like this
which I choose
, a day
for a man
to humble
himself
? Is it for bowing
1one's head
like a reed
And for spreading
out asackcloth
and ashes
as a bed? Will you call
this
a fast
, even an bacceptable
day
to the LORD
?
"Is this not the fast
which I choose
, To aloosen
the bonds
of wickedness
, To undo
the bands
of the yoke
, And to blet
the oppressed
go
free
And cbreak
every
yoke
?
"Is it not to adivide your bread
1with the hungry
And bbring
the homeless
poor
into the house
; When
you see
the cnaked
, to cover
him; And not to dhide
yourself from your own flesh
?
"Then your alight
will break
out like the dawn
, And your brecovery
will speedily
spring
forth
; And your crighteousness
will go
before
you; The glory
of the dLORD
will be your rear
guard
.
"Then you will acall
, and the LORD
will answer
; You will cry
, and He will say
, `Here
I am.' If
you bremove
the yoke
from your midst
, The 1 cpointing
of the finger
and dspeaking
wickedness
,
And if you 1 agive yourself
to the hungry
And satisfy
the 2desire
of the afflicted
, Then your blight
will rise
in darkness
And your gloom
will become like midday
.
"And the aLORD will continually
guide
you, And bsatisfy
your 1desire
in scorched
places
, And cgive
strength
to your bones
; And you will be like a dwatered
garden
, And like a espring
of water
whose
waters
do not 2fail
.
"Those from among you will arebuild the ancient
ruins
; You will braise
up the age-old
foundations
; And you will be called
the repairer
of the cbreach
, The restorer
of the 1streets
in which to dwell
.
"If because
of the sabbath
, you aturn
your foot
From doing
your own pleasure
on My holy
day
, And call
the sabbath
a bdelight
, the holy
day of the LORD
honorable
, And honor
it, desisting
from your cown ways
, From seeking
your own pleasure
And dspeaking
your own word
,
Then you will take
adelight
in the LORD
, And I will make you ride
bon the heights
of the earth
; And I will feed
you with the heritage
of Jacob
your father
, For the cmouth
of the LORD
has spoken
."