Isaiah 58:1-8
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 58
Proper Fasting
1 Shout loudly, without holding back.
Lift up your voice like a trumpet.
Proclaim to my people their wicked deeds,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they search for me day after day
in their desire to know my ways,
as if they are a nation that adheres to righteousness
and has not abandoned the law of their God.
They request that I make righteous judgments,
and they long to be near God.
3 They ask, “Why should we fast
when you do not even notice?
Why should we mortify ourselves
when you pay no heed?”
The truth is that on your fast days
you serve your own interests
and oppress all your workers.
4 Your fasting only leads to quarrels and fights
and lashing out with vicious blows.
Such fasting as you currently practice
will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is this the type of fast that pleases me,
a day for a man to humble himself,
to bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 This rather is the type of fast that I wish:
to loosen the fetters of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to set free those who are oppressed
and to break every yoke,
7 to share your bread with the hungry
and to offer shelter to the homeless poor,
to clothe the naked when you behold them
and not turn your back on your own kin.
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your wound will quickly be healed;
your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
