He says again, then, concerning these things to them: "Why do you fast to me, says the Lord, so that today your voice is heard in crying? This is not the fast I have chosen, says the Lord, nor a man humbling his soul;
nor though you bow your neck like a ring and clothe yourself in sackcloth and spread ashes beneath you, not even so will you call it an acceptable fast."
But to us He says: "Behold, this is the fast that I have chosen, says the Lord: loose every bond of injustice, undo the knots of violent dealings, send away the bruised in forgiveness, and tear up every unjust agreement. Break your bread to the hungry, and if you see one naked, clothe him; bring the homeless into your house, and if you see one lowly, do not despise him, nor those of the household of your own seed.
Then shall your light break forth as the dawn, and your healing shall speedily spring up, and righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall surround you.
Then you shall cry, and God will hearken to you; while you are still speaking He will say: Behold, I am here; if you put away from yourself the bond and the pointing of the finger and the word of murmuring, and give your bread from your soul to the hungry and pity the afflicted soul."
To this end, then, brothers, the longsuffering One, foreseeing how the people whom He prepared in His Beloved would believe in singleness of heart, revealed all things to us beforehand, that we might not dash ourselves, like proselytes, against their law.