Ritual and Ceremony Is Not Enough

¹“Shout it loud and clear !

Don’t hold back!

Let your voice be like a trumpet blast!

Declare to my people their rebellion

and to Jacob’s tribes their sin!

²Yes, daily they seem to seek me,

pretending that they delight to know my ways,

as though they were a nation that does what is right

and had not rejected the law of their God.

They ask me to show them the right way,

acting as though they are eager to be close to me.

³They say, ‘Why is it that when we fasted,

you did not see it?

We starved ourselves, and you didn’t seem to notice.’

“Because on the day you fasted

you were seeking only your own desires,

and you continue to exploit your workers.

⁴During your fasts, you quarrel and fight with others

and strike them with an angry fist.

When you fast like that, your voice will not be heard on high.

⁵Do you think I’m impressed with that kind of fast?

Is it just a day to starve your bodies,

make others think you’re humble,

and lie down in sackcloth and ashes?

Do you call that a fast?

Do you think I, Yahweh , will be pleased with that?”

Worship God in Truth

⁶“This is the kind of fast that I desire:

Remove the heavy chains of oppression!

Stop exploiting your workers !

Set free the crushed and mistreated!

Break off every yoke of bondage!

⁷Share your food with the hungry!

Provide for the homeless

and bring them into your home!

Clothe the naked!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood!

⁸Then my favor will bathe you in sunlight

until you are like the dawn bursting through a dark night.

And then suddenly your healing will manifest.

You will see your righteousness march out before you,

and the glory of Yahweh will protect you from all harm!

⁹Then Yahweh will answer you when you pray.

When you cry out for help, he will say,

‘I am here.’

“If you banish every form of oppression, the scornful accusations,

and vicious slander,

¹⁰and if you offer yourselves in compassion for the hungry[#58:10 Jesus offered himself for us, so we should offer ourselves in compassion for others. See Matt. 10:8; Acts 20:33–35; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 5:2, 25; 1 Tim. 2:6; Titus 2:14.]

and relieve those in misery,

then your dawning light will rise in the darkness

and your gloom will turn into noonday splendor!

¹¹Yahweh will always guide you where to go and what to do.

He will fill you with refreshment

even when you are in a dry, difficult place.

He will continually restore strength to you,

so you will flourish like a well-watered garden

and like an ever-flowing, trustworthy spring of blessing .

¹²Your people will rebuild long-deserted ruins,

building anew on foundations laid long before you.

You will be known as Repairers of the Cities

and Restorers of Communities.

¹³“If you stop pursuing your own desires on my holy day,

and refrain from disregarding the Sabbath,

if you call the Sabbath a delightful pleasure

and Yahweh ’s holy day honorable,

if you honor it properly by not chasing your own desires,

serving your own interests, and speaking empty words,

¹⁴then you will find the joyous bliss

that comes from serving Yahweh .

And I will cause you to prosper

and be carried triumphantly over the high places of the land.

You will enjoy the heritage of Jacob, your ancestor.”

Certainly the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it!