“Is this not the fast that I chose—To loose the bands of wickedness, || To shake off the burdens of the yoke, || And to send out the oppressed free, || And draw off every yoke?”— Isaiah 58:6 (LSV)
3Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? We have afflicted our soul, and You do not know. Behold, you find pleasure in the day of your fast, || And exact all your laborers.
4Behold, you fast for strife and debate, || And to strike with the fist of wickedness, || You do not fast as [this] day, || To sound your voice in the high place.
5Is this like the fast that I choose? The day of a man’s afflicting his soul? To bow his head as a reed, || And spread out sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, || And a desirable day—to YHWH?
6Is this not the fast that I chose—To loose the bands of wickedness, || To shake off the burdens of the yoke, || And to send out the oppressed free, || And draw off every yoke?
7Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, || And bring home the wandering poor, || That you see the naked and cover him, || And do not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8Then your light breaks forth as the dawn, || And your health springs up in haste, || Your righteousness has gone before you, || The glory of YHWH gathers you.
9Then you call, and YHWH answers, || You cry, and He says, Behold Me. If you turn aside the yoke from your midst, || The sending forth of the finger, || And the speaking of vanity,