58
True worship
1 Yahweh said to me,
'Shout loudly!
Shout like a loud trumpet!
Shout to warn the people of Israel about their sins!
2 They worship me every day;
they come to my temple because they say that they are eager to know what I want them to do.
They do that as though they were a nation that did things that were righteous,
who would never abandon my commands.
They ask me to decide matters justly,
and they delight to come to worship me.
3 They say, 'We have ◄fasted/abstained from food► to please you,
but you did not notice it.
We humbled ourselves,
but you did not pay any attention!'
I will tell you why I did not pay attention.
It is because when you fast,
you are doing it only to please yourselves.
4 You fast, but you also quarrel and fight with each other with your fists.
Doing things like that while you fast will certainly not cause me to hear your prayers high in heaven.
5 You humble yourselves by bowing you heads
like the top of a reed bends in the wind,
and you wear rough clothes and cover your heads with ashes like people do when they are grieving.
That is what you do when you are fasting,
but do you really think that will please me?
6 No, that is not the kind of fasting I desire.
What I want is for you to free those who have been unjustly put in prison,
and to encourage those who are oppressed;
I want you to free those who have been oppressed in any way.
7 I want you to share your food with those who are hungry
and to allow those who have no houses to stay in your houses.
Give clothes to those who do not have clothes,
and do not hide from your relatives who need help from you.
8 If you do those things,
what you do for others will be like a light that comes when it dawns.
The troubles that have been caused by your sins will end quickly.
Others will know about your righteous behavior,
and my glorious presence will protect you from behind
I like it protected the Israeli people when they left Egypt.
9 Then you will call out to me,
and I will quickly answer and say 'I am here to help you.'
Stop oppressing people,
stop accusing people,
and stop saying evil things about people.
10 Give food to those who are hungry,
and give to afflicted people the things that they need.
Your doing that will be like a light that shines in the darkness;
instead of doing evil to people [MET], the good things that you do will be like sunshine at noontime.
11 I will guide you continually,
and I will give you good things to satisfy you.
I will enable you to stay strong and healthy.
You will be like a garden that is well watered,
like a spring that never dries up.
12 Your people will rebuild the cities that were destroyed long ago;
they will build houses on top of the old foundations.
People will say that you are the ones who are repairing the holes in the city walls,
and who are restoring the streets where people live.
13 Do not travel [MTY] long distances on Sabbath days,
and on Sabbath days do not do just the things that you delight to do.
Enjoy the Sabbath days, and consider them to be delightful.
Honor me, Yahweh, in everything that you do.
Do not talk about and do the things that you selfishly desire to do.
If you do the things that I have just told you to do,
14 I will be the one who enables you to be joyful.
I will greatly honor you;
it will be as though [MET] you are riding with me above the highest mountains!
I will give to you the blessings that I gave to your ancestor Jacob.
Those things will happen because I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Note: The Old Testament in this translation is still being worked on, and is in draft form. Updates will be posted at eBible.org/t4t/.