“We have fasted before you! they say. Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!
I will tell you why! I respond. It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.
No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
1. Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
2. lighten the burden of those who work for you.
3. Let the oppressed go free, and
4. remove the chains that bind people.
5. Share your food with the hungry, and
6. give shelter to the homeless.
7. Give clothes to those who need them, and
8. do not hide from relatives who need your help.
Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
Then when you call, the Lord will answer. Yes, I am here, He will quickly reply.
1. Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
2. Stop pointing your finger and
3. spreading vicious rumors!
4. Feed the hungry, and
5. help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.”
{Isaiah 58:3-4, 6-12}