Isaiah 58:1-9

New International Version

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)
²For 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.
³‘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.
⁴Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,^(L)
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard^(M) on high.
⁵Is this the kind of fast^(N) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble^(O) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed^(P)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?^(Q)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the kind of fasting^(R) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice^(S)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed^(T) free
    and break every yoke?^(U)
⁷Is it not to share your food with the hungry^(V)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter^(W)—
when you see the naked, to clothe^(X) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?^(Y)
⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn,^(Z)
    and your healing^(AA) will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a]^(AB) will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.^(AC)
⁹Then you will call,^(AD) and the Lord will answer;^(AE)
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger^(AF) and malicious talk,^(AG)

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Footnotes

Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One

1 Corinthians 2:1-12

New International Version

2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom^(A) as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.^[a] ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.^(B) ³I came to you^(C) in weakness^(D) with great fear and trembling.^(E) ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,^(F) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,^(G) ⁵so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.^(H)

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

⁶We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,^(I) but not the wisdom of this age^(J) or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.^(K) ⁷No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery^(L) that has been hidden^(M) and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸None of the rulers of this age^(N) understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.^(O) ⁹However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”^[b]—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—^(P)

¹⁰these are the things God has revealed^(Q) to us by his Spirit.^(R)

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts^(S) except their own spirit^(T) within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²What we have received is not the spirit^(U) of the world,^(V) but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

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Footnotes

1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s mystery
1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4

Matthew 5:13-20

New International Version

Salt and Light

¹³“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.^(A)

¹⁴“You are the light of the world.^(B) A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.^(C) ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others,^(D) that they may see your good deeds^(E) and glorify^(F) your Father in heaven.

The Fulfillment of the Law

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.^(G) ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.^(H) ¹⁹Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands^(I) and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.^(J)