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Look! You fast to quarrel and strife,
    and to strike with a wicked fist.[a]
You shall not fast as you do today,[b]
    to make your voice heard[c] on the height.
Is the fast I choose like this,
    a day for humankind to humiliate himself[d]?
To bow his head like a reed,
    and make[e] his bed on sackcloth and ashes;
you call this a fast
    and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?
Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice,
    to untie the ropes of the yoke,
and to let the oppressed go free,
    and tear[f] every yoke to pieces?

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:4 Literally “fist of wickedness”
  2. Isaiah 58:4 Literally “the day”
  3. Isaiah 58:4 Literally “cause to hear your voice”
  4. Isaiah 58:5 Literally “his soul”
  5. Isaiah 58:5 Literally “he makes”
  6. Isaiah 58:6 Literally “you must tear”