This scriptural nugget is of tremendous value, for it is very heavy indeed. This passage is transforming my life.<\/p>\n
1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
\nRaise your voice like a trumpet.
\nDeclare to my people their rebellion
\nand to the descendants of Jacob their sins.<\/p>\n
2 For day after day they seek me out;
\nthey seem eager to know my ways,
\nas if they were a nation that does what is right
\nand has not forsaken the commands of its God.
\nThey ask me for just decisions
\nand seem eager for God to come near them.<\/p>\n
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
\n‘and you have not seen it?
\nWhy have we humbled ourselves,
\nand you have not noticed?’
\n“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
\nand exploit all your workers.<\/p>\n
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
\nand in striking each other with wicked fists.
\nYou cannot fast as you do today
\nand expect your voice to be heard on high.<\/p>\n
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
\nonly a day for people to humble themselves?
\nIs it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
\nand for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
\nIs that what you call a fast,
\na day acceptable to the Lord?<\/p>\n
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
\nto loose the chains of injustice
\nand untie the cords of the yoke,
\nto set the oppressed free
\nand break every yoke?<\/p>\n
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
\nand to provide the poor wanderer with shelter\u201a
\nwhen you see the naked, to clothe them,
\nand not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?<\/p>\n
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
\nand your healing will quickly appear;
\nthen your righteousness will go before you,
\nand the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.<\/p>\n
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
\nyou will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
\n“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
\nwith the pointing finger and malicious talk,<\/p>\n
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
\nand satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
\nthen your light will rise in the darkness,
\nand your night will become like the noonday.<\/p>\n
11 The Lord will guide you always;
\nhe will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
\nand will strengthen your frame.
\nYou will be like a well-watered garden,
\nlike a spring whose waters never fail.<\/p>\n
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
\nand will raise up the age-old foundations;
\nyou will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
\nRestorer of Streets with Dwellings.<\/p>\n
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
\nand from doing as you please on my holy day,
\nif you call the Sabbath a delight
\nand the Lord’s holy day honorable,
\nand if you honor it by not going your own way
\nand not doing as you please or speaking idle words,<\/p>\n
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
\nand I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
\nand to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
\nFor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This scriptural nugget is of tremendous value, for it is very heavy indeed. This passage is transforming my life. 1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=282"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344,"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/meditations.tylerdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}