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| Chapter III.—The fasts of the Jews are not true fasts, nor acceptable to God.
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Chapter III.—The fasts of the Jews
are not true fasts, nor acceptable to God.
He
says then to them again concerning these things, “Why do ye fast to
Me as on this day, saith the Lord, that your voice should be heard with a
cry? I have not chosen this fast, saith the Lord, that a man should
humble his soul. Nor, though ye bend your neck like a ring, and put upon
you sackcloth and ashes, will ye call it an acceptable fast.”1464
To us He saith, “Behold, this is the fast
that I have chosen, saith the Lord, not that a man should humble his
soul, but that he should loose every band of iniquity, untie the
fastenings of harsh agreements, restore to liberty them that are bruised,
tear in pieces every unjust engagement, feed the hungry with thy bread,
clothe the naked when thou seest him, bring the homeless into thy house,
not despise the humble if thou behold him, and not [turn away] from the
members of thine own family. Then shall thy dawn break forth, and thy
healing shall quickly spring up, and righteousness shall go forth before
thee, and the glory of God shall encompass thee; and then thou shalt
call, and God shall hear thee; whilst thou art yet speaking, He shall
say, Behold, I am with thee; if thou take away from thee the chain
[binding others], and the stretching forth of the hands1465
| 1465 The original here is χειροτονίαν, from the
LXX. Hefele remarks, that it may refer to the stretching forth of the
hands, either to swear falsely, or to mock and insult one’s
neighbour. | [to swear falsely], and words of murmuring, and
give cheerfully thy bread to the hungry, and show compassion to the soul
that has been humbled.”1466
To this end, therefore, brethren, He is long-suffering, foreseeing how
the people whom He has prepared shall with guilelessness believe in His
Beloved. For He revealed all these things to us beforehand, that we
should not rush forward as rash acceptors of their laws.1467
| 1467 The Greek is here unintelligible: the
Latin has, “that we should not rush on, as if proselytes to their
law.” | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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