True and False Fasting
1
"Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
a Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.
2
Yet they seek Me daily,
And delight to know My ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;
They take delight in approaching God.
3
'Why b have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen?
Why have we c afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?'
"In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And exploit all your laborers.
4
d Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
5
Is e it a fast that I have chosen,
f A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And g to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the LORD?
6
" Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To h loose the bonds of wickedness,
i To undo the heavy burdens,
j To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7
Is it not k to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
l When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from m your own flesh?
8
n Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
o The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.'
"If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and p speaking wickedness,
10
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
11
The LORD will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12
Those from among you
q Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
13
"If r you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the LORD honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
14
s Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD;
And I will cause you to t ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
u The mouth of the LORD has spoken."
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Cross References
Micah 3:8
But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, And of justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin.
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Cross References
Malachi 3:13 - 18
"Your words have been harsh against Me," Says the LORD, "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against You?'
Luke 18:12
'I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'
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Cross References
Leviticus 16:29
This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.
Leviticus 23:27
Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.
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Cross References
1 Kings 21:9
She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people.
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Cross References
Zechariah 7:5
Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me - for Me?
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Cross References
Leviticus 16:29
This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.
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Cross References
Esther 4:3
And in every province where the king's command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Job 2:8
And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
Daniel 9:3
Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
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Cross References
Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed.
Luke 4:19
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.
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Cross References
Nehemiah 5:10 - 12
I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury!
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Cross References
Jeremiah 34:9
That every man should set free his male and female slave - a Hebrew man or woman - that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 18:7
If he has not oppressed anyone, But has restored to the debtor his pledge; Has robbed no one by violence, But has given his bread to the hungry And covered the naked with clothing.
Matthew 25:35
For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in.
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Cross References
Job 31:19 - 22
If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or any poor man without covering.
James 2:14 - 17
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
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Cross References
Genesis 29:14
And Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh." And he stayed with him for a month.
Nehemiah 5:5
"Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards."
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Cross References
Job 11:17
And your life would be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark, you would be like the morning.
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Cross References
Exodus 14:19
And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.
Isaiah 52:12
For you shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight; For the LORD will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
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Cross References
Psalms 12:2
They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
Isaiah 59:13
In transgressing and lying against the LORD, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
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Cross References
Isaiah 61:4
And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.
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Cross References
Exodus 31:16
Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the...
Exodus 31:17
'It is a sign between Me and the children of Is...
Exodus 35:2
Work shall be done for six days, but the sevent...
Exodus 35:3
"You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwell...
Isaiah 56:2
Blessed is the man who does this, And the son o...
Isaiah 56:4
For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who kee...
Isaiah 56:6
Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themsel...
Jeremiah 17:21 - 27
Thus says the LORD: "Take heed to yourselves, a...
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Cross References
Job 22:26
For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God.
Isaiah 61:10
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 32:13
He made him ride in the heights of the earth, That he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, And oil from the flinty rock.
Deuteronomy 33:29
Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places.
Isaiah 33:16
He will dwell on high; His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will be sure.
Habakkuk 3:19
The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.
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Cross References
Isaiah 1:20
But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword"; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 40:5
The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Micah 4:4
But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.