³ “Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?^(B)
We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” ^[a]

“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.^(C)
4 You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?^(D)
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
⁶ Isn’t this the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,^(E)
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?^(F)
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,^(G)
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,^(H)
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?^[b](I)
8 Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.^(J)
Your righteousness will go before you,^(K)
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.^(L)

⁹ At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;^(M)
when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you get rid of the yoke among you,
the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,^(N)
10 and if you offer yourself^[c] to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,^(O)
and your night will be like noonday.
¹¹ The Lord will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden^(P)
and like a spring whose water never runs dry.^(Q)
12 Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;^(R)
you will restore the foundations laid long ago;^(S)
you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
the restorer of streets where people live.
¹³ “If you keep from desecrating the Sabbath,^(T)
from doing whatever you want on my holy day;
if you call the Sabbath a delight,
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,^(U)
seeking your own pleasure, or talking business;^[d][e]
14 then you will delight in the Lord,^(V)
and I will make you ride over the heights of the land,^(W)
and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^(X)