First Reading

Thus says the Lord:

If you remove from your midst oppression,

false accusation and malicious speech;

If you bestow your bread on the hungry

and satisfy the afflicted;

Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,

and the gloom shall become for you like midday;

Then the Lord will guide you always

and give you plenty even on the parched land.

He will renew your strength,

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring whose water never fails.

The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,

and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;

“Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you,

“Restorer of ruined homesteads.”

If you hold back your foot on the sabbath

from following your own pursuits on my holy day;

If you call the sabbath a delight,

and the Lord’s holy day honorable;

If you honor it by not following your ways,

seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice—

Then you shall delight in the Lord,

and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;

I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.