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?