Not so Fast

58:3 They (God's People) say, “We fast to show honor to you (God). 

Why don’t you see us? 

We starve our bodies to show honor to you. 

Why don’t you notice us?”

But God says... 

4 You are hungry, but not for food. 

You are hungry for arguing and fighting, not for bread. 

You are hungry to hit people with your evil hands. 

This is not the way to fast if you want your prayers to be heard in heaven! 

5 Do you think I want to see people punish their bodies on those days of fasting? 

Do you think I want people to look sad and bow their heads like dead plants? 

Do you think I want people to wear mourning clothes and sit in ashes to show their sadness? That is what you do on your days of fasting. 

Do you think that is what the Lord wants?

6 “I will tell you the kind of day I want—a day to set people free. 

I want a day that you take the burdens off others. 

I want a day when you set troubled people free and you take the burdens from their shoulders. 

7 I want you to share your food with the hungry. 

I want you to find the poor who don’t have homes and bring them into your own homes. 

When you see people who have no clothes, give them your clothes! 

Don’t hide from your relatives when they need help.”

8 If you do these things, your light will begin to shine like the light of dawn. 

Then your wounds will heal. 

Your “Goodness” will walk in front of you, and the Glory of the Lord will come following behind you. 

9 Then you will call to the Lord, and he will answer you. You will cry out to him, and he will say, “Here I am.”

Stop causing trouble and putting burdens on people. 

Stop saying things to hurt people or accusing them of things they didn’t do. 

10 Feel sorry for hungry people and give them food. 

Help those who are troubled and satisfy their needs. Then your light will shine in the darkness. 

You will be like the bright sunshine at noon.

11 The Lord will always lead you and satisfy your needs in dry lands. 

He will give strength to your bones. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring that never goes dry...

Isaiah 58

Easy-to-Read Version