For he has said, ‘It profits one nothing to take delight in God.’
If you ask, ‘What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?’
You have said, “It is vain to serve God. What do we profit by keeping his command or by going about as mourners before the Lord of hosts?
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Will they take delight in the Almighty? Will they call upon God at all times?
They said to God, ‘Leave us alone,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity and are rescued in the day of wrath?
You make friends with a thief when you see one, and you keep company with adulterers.
All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers.