Study Desk

"^(C1)Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their ^(C2)wrongdoing, And to the house of Jacob their sins.

-"Yet they ^(C1)seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done ^(C2)righteousness And ^(C3)has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight ^(C4)in the nearness of God.

'Why have we ^(C1)fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not ^(F1)notice?' Behold, on the ^(C2)day of your fast you find your desire, And oppress all your workers.

-"Behold, you fast for contention and ^(C1)strife, and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you have done today to ^(C2)make your voice heard on high!

-"Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it for bowing ^(F1)one's head like a reed And for spreading out ^(C1)sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an ^(C2)acceptable day to the LORD?

-"Is this not the fast that I choose: To ^(C1)release the bonds of wickedness, To undo the ropes of the yoke, And to ^(C2)let the oppressed go free, And ^(C3)break every yoke?

-"Is it not to ^(C1)break your bread ^(F1)with the hungry And ^(C2)bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the ^(C3)naked, to cover him; And not to ^(C4)hide yourself from your own flesh?

-"Then your ^(C1)light will break out like the dawn, And your ^(C2)recovery will spring up quickly; And your ^(C3)righteousness will go before you; The glory of the ^(C4)LORD will be your rear guard.

-"Then you will ^(C1)call, and the LORD will answer; You will cry for help, and He will say, 'Here I am.' If you ^(C2)remove the yoke from your midst, The ^(F1)(C3)pointing of the finger and ^(C4)speaking wickedness,

And if you ^(C1)offer yourself to the hungry And satisfy the ^(F1)need of the afflicted, Then your ^(C2)light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become like midday.

-"And the ^(C1)LORD will continually guide you, And ^(C2)satisfy your ^(F1)desire in scorched places, And ^(C3)give strength to your bones; And you will be like a ^(C4)watered garden, And like a ^(C5)spring of water whose waters do not ^(F2)fail.

-"Those from among you will ^(C1)rebuild the ancient ruins; You will ^(C2)raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the ^(C3)breach, The restorer of the ^(F1)streets in which to dwell.