Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
Ye shall not fast as (ye do this) day, to make your voice to be heard on high - or, 'ye do not fast at this time so as to make your voice to be heard on high,' i:e., in heaven; your aim in fasting is strife, not to gain the ear of God (Maurer), as in the case of the Jezreelites' fast and murder of Naboth (1 Kings 21:9; 1 Kings 21:12-13). The English version is confirmed by the Septuagint, Vulgate, Chaldaic, Arabic, and Syriac: the sense is. If you wish acceptance with God, ye must not fast as ye now do to make your voice heard high in strife.