Is such the fast that I have chosen, the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to LORD?

Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Ye do not fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.

Why have we fasted, [they say], and thou see not? We have afflicted our soul, and thou take no knowledge. Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact from all your laborers.

Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

For thus says LORD of the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant:

Also the foreigners who join themselves to LORD, to minister to him, and to love the name of LORD, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant,

Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?