Isaiah 58:1-6

New King James Version

Fasting that Pleases God

58 “Cry aloud, ^[a]spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
^(A)Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.
²Yet they seek Me daily,
And delight to know My ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;
They take delight in approaching God.
³‘Why^(B) have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we ^(C)afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’

“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And ^[b]exploit all your laborers.
⁴^(D)Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
⁵Is ^(E)it a fast that I have chosen,
^(F)A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And ^(G)to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?

⁶“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To ^(H)loose the bonds of wickedness,
^(I)To undo the ^[c]heavy burdens,
^(J)To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?