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Chapter 58

Proper Fasting

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.
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.
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.

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True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,(A) do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.(B)
Declare to my people their rebellion(C)
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.(D)
For day after day they seek(E) me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken(F) the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near(G) them.
‘Why have we fasted,’(H) they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled(I) ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’(J)

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please(K)
    and exploit all your workers.

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