True Fasting
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.
2For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness58:8 Or your righteous One will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11The 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.
12Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14then you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Mfungo Wa Kweli
158:1 Isa 24:20; 40:6; 48:8; Eze 3:17; Isa 57:12“Piga kelele, usizuie.
Paza sauti yako kama tarumbeta.
Watangazieni watu wangu uasi wao,
na kwa nyumba ya Yakobo dhambi zao.
258:2 Isa 29:13; Yak 4:8Kwa maana kila siku hunitafuta,
wanaonekana kutaka kujua njia zangu,
kana kwamba walikuwa taifa linalotenda lililo sawa,
na ambalo halijaziacha amri za Mungu wake.
Hutaka kwangu maamuzi ya haki,
nao hutamani Mungu awakaribie.
358:3 Law 16:29; Mal 3:14; Zek 7:5-6; Kut 10:3; 2Nya 6:37; Yer 44:10; Isa 22:13Wao husema, ‘Mbona tumefunga, nawe hujaona?
Mbona tumejinyenyekeza, nawe huangalii?’
“Lakini katika siku ya kufunga kwenu, mnafanya mnavyotaka
na kuwadhulumu wafanyakazi wenu wote.
458:4 Mal 2:16; Mao 3:44; Mik 3:4; 1Fal 21:9-13; Isa 59:6; Eze 7:11; 8:18; 1Sam 8:18Kufunga kwenu huishia kwenye magomvi na mapigano,
na kupigana ninyi kwa ninyi kwa ngumi za uovu.
Hamwezi kufunga kama mnavyofanya leo
na kutazamia sauti zenu kusikiwa huko juu.
558:5 Zek 7:5; 1Fal 21:27; Mt 6:16; Ay 2:8; Isa 36:6Je, hii ndiyo aina ya mfungo niliouchagua,
siku moja tu ya mtu kujinyenyekeza?
Je, ni kwa kuinamisha kichwa chini kama tete,
na kwa kujilaza juu ya nguo ya gunia na majivu?
Je, huo ndio mnaouita mfungo,
siku iliyokubalika kwa Bwana?
658:6 Neh 5:10-11; Kum 14:29; Lk 4:19; Yoe 2:12-13; Yer 34:9; Amo 4:1; Isa 9:4“Je, hii si ndiyo aina ya mfungo niliyoichagua:
kufungua minyororo ya udhalimu,
na kufungua kamba za nira,
kuwaweka huru walioonewa,
na kuvunja kila nira?
758:7 Ay 22:7; Dan 4:27; Ebr 13:12; Ay 31:19-20; Mwa 29:14; Mt 25:36; Eze 18:16Je, sio kushirikiana chakula chako na wenye njaa
na kuwapatia maskini wasiokuwa na makao hifadhi,
unapomwona aliye uchi, umvike,
wala si kumkimbia mtu wa nyama na damu yako mwenyewe?
858:8 Isa 9:2; 30:26; Kut 14:19; Ay 11:17; Isa 26:2Ndipo nuru yako itajitokeza kama mapambazuko
na uponyaji wako utatokea upesi;
ndipo haki yako itakapokutangulia mbele yako,
na utukufu wa Bwana utakuwa mlinzi nyuma yako.
958:9 Mit 6:13; Za 50:12; 12:2; Isa 59:13; Ay 8:6; Dan 9:20; Zek 10:6Ndipo utaita, naye Bwana atajibu,
utalia kuomba msaada,
naye atasema: Mimi hapa.
“Kama ukiiondoa nira ya udhalimu,
na kunyoosha kidole na kuzungumza maovu,
1058:10 Kum 15:7-8; Ay 11:17; Isa 42:16nanyi kama mkimkunjulia mtu mwenye njaa nafsi zenu
na kutosheleza mahitaji ya walioonewa,
ndipo nuru yenu itakapongʼaa gizani,
nao usiku wenu utakuwa kama adhuhuri.
1158:11 Za 104:28; Wim 4:15; Yn 4:14; Za 48:14; Isa 42:16; 48:7; Za 68:1; 72:6Bwana atakuongoza siku zote,
atayatosheleza mahitaji yako katika nchi kame,
naye ataitia nguvu mifupa yako.
Utakuwa kama bustani iliyonyweshwa vizuri,
kama chemchemi ambayo maji yake hayakauki kamwe.
12Watu wako watajenga tena magofu ya zamani
na kuinua misingi ya kale;
utaitwa Mwenye Kukarabati Kuta Zilizobomoka,
Mwenye Kurejeza Barabara za Makao.
1358:13 Law 19:20; Kut 20:8; Za 37:4; Isa 56:2“Kama ukitunza miguu yako isivunje Sabato,
na kutokufanya kama vile upendavyo katika siku yangu takatifu,
kama ukiita Sabato siku ya furaha
na siku takatifu ya Bwana ya kuheshimiwa,
kama utaiheshimu kwa kutoenenda
katika njia zako mwenyewe,
na kutokufanya yakupendezayo
au kusema maneno ya upuzi,
1458:14 Ay 22:26; Kum 32:13; Isa 1:20; Za 105:10-11ndipo utakapojipatia furaha yako katika Bwana,
nami nitakufanya upande juu ya miinuko ya nchi
na kusherehekea urithi wa Yakobo baba yako.”
Kinywa cha Bwana kimenena haya.
