A reading from
the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 58:1-9a
Thus says the Lord God:/Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,/ lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;/ Tell my people their wickedness,/ and the house of Jacob their sins./ They seek me day after day,/ and desire to know my ways,/ Like a nation that has done what is just/ and not abandoned the law of their God;/ They ask me to declare what is due them,/ pleased to gain access to God./ “Why do we fast, and you do not see it?/ afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,/ and drive all your laborers./ Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,/ striking with wicked claw./ Would that today you might fast/ so as to make your voice heard on high!/ Is this the manner of fasting I wish,/ of keeping a day of penance:/ That a man bow his head like a reed/ and lie in sackcloth and ashes?/ Do you call this a fast,/ a day acceptable to the Lord?/ This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:/ releasing those bound unjustly,/ untying the thongs of the yoke;/ Setting free the oppressed,/ breaking every yoke;/ Sharing your bread with the hungry,/ sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;/ Clothing the naked when you see them,/ and not turning your back on your own./ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,/ and your wound shall quickly be healed;/ Your vindication shall go before you,/ and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard./ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer,/ you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
The word of the Lord.
