1 “Cry out loudly, don’t hold back!Raise your voice like a trumpet.Tell My people their transgressionand the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek Me day after dayand delight to know My ways,like a nation that does what is rightand does not abandon the justice of their God.They ask Me for righteous judgments;they delight in the nearness of God.”
3 “Why have we fasted, but You have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed! ” “Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,and oppress all your workers.
4 You fast with contention and strifeto 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? Will you call this a fastand a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t the fast I choose:To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke,to set the oppressed free,and to tear off every yoke?