Haftorah Beam - Devarim

Where the Torah portion focused on the power of words, the Haftorah reading emphasizes actions.  Indeed, after a long diatribe denouncing the people for their evil ways, rejecting their prayers and sacrifices, the prophet suddenly changes his tone:

¹⁶ Wash yourselves clean;
Put your evil doings
Away from My sight.
Cease to do evil;
¹⁷ Learn to do good.
Devote yourselves to justice;
Aid the wronged.
Uphold the rights of the orphan;
Defend the cause of the widow.

¹⁸ "Come, let us reach an understanding,

--declares the Lord--

Be your sins like crimson,
They can turn snow-white;
Be they red as dyed wool,
They can become like fleece."

Not prayer, nor sacrifices, but doing justice, aiding the wronged, and fighting for the downtrodden constitutes true repentance.