Isaiah 58

"'Why have we fasted,' they say,
'and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves
and you have not noticed?'

Yet on the day of your fasting, you do
as you please
and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and
strife,
and in striking each other with
wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on
high.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble
himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a
reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this the kind of fasting I have
chosen;
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the
hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer
with shelter---
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own
flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go
before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your
rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will
answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say:
Here am I.

If you do away with the yoke of
oppression,
with the pointing figer and
malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of
the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the
oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the
noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a
sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail."

Isaiah 58:3-11