A reading from
the Book of the Prophet Isaiah58:9b-14
Thus says the Lord:/ If you remove from your midst oppression,/ false accusation and malicious speech;/ If you bestow your bread on the hungry/ and satisfy the afflicted;/ Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,/ and the gloom shall become for you like midday;/ Then the Lord will guide you always/ and give you plenty even on the parched land./ He will renew your strength,/ and you shall be like a watered garden,/ like a spring whose water never fails./ The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,/ and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;/ “Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you,/ “Restorer of ruined homesteads.”
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath/ from following your own pursuits on my holy day;/ If you call the sabbath a delight,/ and the Lord’s holy day honorable;/ If you honor it by not following your ways,/ seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice—/ Then you shall delight in the Lord,/ and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;/ I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,/ for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
The word of the Lord.
