“‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see?Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’“Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,and oppress all your laborers.”
Isaiah 58:3 (WEB)
Context Reading
1“Cry aloud! Don’t spare!Lift up your voice like a trumpet!Declare to my people their disobedience,and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2Yet they seek me daily,and delight to know my ways.As a nation that did righteousness,and didn’t forsake the ordinance of their God,they ask of me righteous judgments.They delight to draw near to God. 3‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see?Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’“Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,and oppress all your laborers. 4Behold, you fast for strife and contention,and to strike with the fist of wickedness.You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high. 5Is this the fast that I have chosen?A day for a man to humble his soul?Is it to bow down his head like a reed,and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself?Will you call this a fast,and an acceptable day to Yahweh?