Isaiah 58:3-5

American Standard Version

³ Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure, and ^[a]exact all your labors. ⁴ Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ^[b]ye fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. ⁵ Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?