86 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
86 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
True Fasting
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# Chapter 58
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1. "Cry out loudly, don't hold back!
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Raise your voice like a ram's horn.
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Tell my people their transgression
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and the house of Jacob their sins.
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2. They seek me day after day
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and delight to know my ways,
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like a nation that does what is right
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and does not abandon the justice of their God.
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They ask me for righteous judgments;
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they delight in the nearness of God."
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3. "Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?
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We have denied ourselves, but you haven't noticed!"
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"Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
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and oppress all your workers.
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4. You fast with contention and strife
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to strike viciously with your fist.
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You cannot fast as you do today,
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hoping to make your voice heard on high.
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5. Will the fast I choose be like this:
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A day for a person to deny himself,
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to bow his head like a reed,
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and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
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Will you call this a fast
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and a day acceptable to the Lord?
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6. Isn't this the fast I choose:
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To break the chains of wickedness,
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to untie the ropes of the yoke,
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to set the oppressed free,
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and to tear off every yoke?
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7. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
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to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
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to clothe the naked when you see him,
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and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?
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8. Then your light will appear like the dawn,
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and your recovery will come quickly.
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Your righteousness will go before you,
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and the Lord's glory will be your rear guard.
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9. At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer;
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when you cry out, he will say, 'Here I am.'
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If you get rid of the yoke among you,
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the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,
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10. and if you offer yourself to the hungry,
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and satisfy the afflicted one,
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then your light will shine in the darkness,
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and your night will be like noonday.
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11. The Lord will always lead you,
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satisfy you in a parched land,
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and strengthen your bones.
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You will be like a watered garden
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and like a spring whose water never runs dry.
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12. Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
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you will restore the foundations laid long ago;
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you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
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the restorer of streets where people live.
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13. "If you keep from desecrating the Sabbath,
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from doing whatever you want on my holy day;
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if you call the Sabbath a delight,
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and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
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if you honor it, not going your own ways,
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seeking your own pleasure, or talking business;
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14. then you will delight in the Lord,
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and I will make you ride over the heights of the land,
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and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob."
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For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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