February 8 5th Sunday after Epiphany

 Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)

Shout out; do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they want God on their side.
3 “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.
4 You fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your needs in parched places
and make your bones strong,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never fail.
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in. 

Matthew 5:13-20

5:13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can  its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is  thrown out and trampled under foot.

5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.

5:15 People do not light a lamp put it under the bushel basket; rather they  put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.

5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may  see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

5:18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter,  not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is  accomplished.

5:19 Therefore,  whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others  to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but  whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom  of heaven.

5:20 For I tell you,  unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you  will never enter the kingdom of heaven."