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Fasting and Tzedakah

58 “Cry aloud, do not hold back!
Raise your voice like a shofar.
Tell My people their transgression,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek Me day to day
and delight to know My ways,
as if they were a nation that did right,
and had not forsaken their God’s decree.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God.”

“Why have we fasted.
yet You do not see?
Why have we afflicted our souls,
yet You take no notice?”

“Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and exploit all your laborers.

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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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True and False Fasting

58 “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
    (A)lift up your voice like a trumpet;
(B)declare to my people their transgression,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
(C)Yet they seek me daily
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
    and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
    they delight to draw near to God.
(D)‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
    Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,[a]
    (E)and oppress all your workers.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:3 Or pursue your own business