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‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see?
    Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’

“Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
    and oppress all your laborers.
Behold, you fast for strife and contention,
    and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
    You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the fast that I have chosen?
    A day for a man to humble his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself?
Will you call this a fast,
    and an acceptable day to Yahweh?

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‘Why have we fasted,’(A) they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled(B) ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’(C)

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please(D)
    and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,(E)
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard(F) on high.
Is this the kind of fast(G) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble(H) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed(I)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?(J)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

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