[:en]What is true fasting?
- To loose the chains of injustice, untie the cords of the yoke, and to set the oppressed free (v. 6)
- To share your food with the hungry, to provide the poor wanderer with shelter, and to clothe the naked and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood (v. 7)
- To do away with malicious talk (v. 9)
- To spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed (v. 10)
- To keep the Sabbath day holy & honorable (v. 13)
Fasting is not:
- Showing of false humility, doing what you please, exploiting all your workers (v. 3) or speaking idle words (v. 13)
- Ending it in quarreling and strife and striking each other with wicked fist (v. 4)
- Only a day to humble himself, bowing one’s head like a reed and lying on sackcloth and ashes (v. 5)
Benefits of true fasting:
- “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before your, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard” (v. 9)
- “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I” (v. 9)
- “Then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday” (v. 10)
- “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail” (v. 11)
- “Your people will rebuild the ancients ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings” (v. 12)
- “Then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob” (v. 14)
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