1 Shout loudly; don’t hold back;raise your voice like a trumpet!Announce to my people their crime,to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day after day,desiring knowledge of my wayslike a nation that acted righteously,that didn’t abandon their God.They ask me for righteous judgments,wanting to be close to God.
3 "Why do we fast and you don’t see;why afflict ourselves and you don’t notice?"Yet on your fast day you do whatever you want,and oppress all your workers.
4 You quarrel and brawl, and then you fast;you hit each other violently with your fists.You shouldn’t fast as you are doing todayif you want to make your voice heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I choose,a day of self-affliction,of bending one’s head like a reedand of lying down in mourning clothing and ashes?Is this what you call a fast,a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t this the fast I choose:releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,setting free the mistreated,and breaking every yoke?