1. Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;Proclaim to my people their transgression,to the house of Jacob their sins.
2. They seek me day after day,and desire to know my ways,Like a nation that has done what is justand not abandoned the judgment of their God;They ask of me just judgments,they desire to draw near to God.
3. “Why do we fast, but you do not see it?afflict ourselves, but you take no note?”See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,and drive all your laborers.
4. See, you fast only to quarrel and fightand to strike with a wicked fist!Do not fast as you do todayto make your voice heard on high!
5. Is this the manner of fasting I would choose,a day to afflict oneself?To bow one’s head like a reed,and lie upon sackcloth and ashes?Is this what you call a fast,a day acceptable to the Lord?
6. Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:releasing those bound unjustly,untying the thongs of the yoke;Setting free the oppressed,breaking off every yoke?