137 Bible verses about Fasting

“And when you fast, do not be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces so that they appear to be fasting to men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.

“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place. And your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loosen the tight cords of wrongness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to exempt the oppressed, and to break off every yoke?

“Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, and cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?

“Yet even now,” declares יהוה, “turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”

And tear your heart and not your garments, and turn back to יהוה  your Elohim, for He shows favour and is compassionate, patient, and of great kindness, and He shall relent concerning the evil.

And after having fasted forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.

So I set my face toward יהוה  the Elohim to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

And as they were doing service to the Master and fasted, the Set-apart Spirit said, “Separate unto Me Barnaḇ

Then having fasted and prayed, and having laid hands on them, they sent them away.

And the men of Ninewĕ

And the word reached the sovereign of Ninewĕ

And he proclaimed and said throughout Ninewĕ

“But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and call mightily to Elohim. And let each one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

“Who knows whether Elohim does turn and relent, and shall turn away from the heat of His displeasure, so that we do not perish?”

And Elohim saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. And Elohim relented from the evil which He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it.

I then proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahawa, to humble ourselves before our Elohim, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions,

for I was ashamed to ask of the sovereign a group of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the sovereign, saying, “The hand of our Elohim is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”

So we fasted and prayed to our Elohim for this, and He answered our prayer.

And Yehoshaphat was afraid, and set his face to seek יהוה, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Yehuḏ

And Yehuḏ

And it came to be, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days. And I was fasting and praying before the Elohim of the heavens,

And יהושע, being filled with the Set-apart Spirit, returned from the Yardĕ

being tried for forty days by the devil. And in those days He did not eat at all, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

And he was there with יהוה  forty days and forty nights. He did not eat bread and he did not drink water. And He wrote on the tablets the Words of the covenant, the Ten Words.

And having appointed elders in every assembly, having prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Master in whom they had believed.

But I, when they were sick, I put on sackcloth; I humbled my being with fastings; And my prayer would return to my own bosom.

I walked about as though he were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning, as one mourning for a mother.

And it came to be, when Aḥ

And the word of יהוה  came to Ě

“See how Aḥ

Then the taught ones of Yoḥ

And יהושע  said to them, “Are the friends of the bridegroom able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days shall come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they shall fast.

In those days I, Dani’ĕ

I did not eat desirable food, and meat and wine did not come into my mouth, and I did not anoint myself at all, till the completion of three weeks of days.

They say, ‘Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our beings, and You took no note?’ “Look, in the day of your fasting you find pleasure, and drive on all your labourers.

“Look, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wrongness. You do not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high.

“Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his being? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to יהוה ?

And on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Yisra’ĕ

And the descendants of Yisra’ĕ

“Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months all these seventy years, did you truly fast for Me – for Me?

And they gathered to Mitspah and drew water, and poured it out before יהוה. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against יהוה.” And Shemu’ĕ

Do not deprive one another except with agreement for a time, to give yourselves to fasting and prayer. And come together again so that Satan does not try you because of your lack of self-control.

“But this kind does not go out except through prayer and fasting.”

And I wept in my being with fasting, And it became my reproach.

And Dawiḏ

“Go, gather all the Yehuḏ

Set apart a fast. Call an assembly, gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land, into the House of יהוה  your Elohim, and cry out to יהוה.

And all the children of Yisra’ĕ

My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh grows lean from fatness.

And he rose up and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Ḥ

And Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour. And at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and see, a man stood before me in shining garments,

and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your kind deeds were remembered before Elohim.

And the sovereign went to his palace and spent the night fasting. And no entertainment was brought before him, and his sleep fled from him.

And the men of Ninewĕ

so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place. And your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.

“When they fast, I do not hear their cry. And when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I do not accept them. Instead, I am consuming them by sword, and by scarcity of food, and by pestilence.”

“Thus said יהוה  of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth months, are to be joy and gladness, and pleasant appointed times for the house of Yehuḏ

But I, when they were sick, I put on sackcloth; I humbled my being with fastings; And my prayer would return to my own bosom.

Blow a ram’s horn in Tsiyon, set apart a fast, call an assembly.

Gather the people, set the assembly apart, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes. Let a bridegroom come out from his room, and a bride from her dressing room.

But I treat my body severely and make it my slave, so that when I have proclaimed to others, I myself might be rejected.

And it came to be, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days. And I was fasting and praying before the Elohim of the heavens,

and I said, “I pray, יהוה  Elohim of the heavens, O great and awesome Ě

please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, for the children of Yisra’ĕ

And so he did, year by year. Whenever she went up to the House of יהוה, she was provoked, so that she wept and did not eat.

And her husband Elqanah said to her, “Ḥ

And as they were doing service to the Master and fasted, the Set-apart Spirit said, “Separate unto Me Barnaḇ

and she was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not leave the Set-apart Place, but served Elohim with fastings and prayers night and day.

So we fasted and prayed to our Elohim for this, and He answered our prayer.

And she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and seat Naḇ

And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Yisra’ĕ

while I was still speaking in prayer, the man Gaḇ

And he made me understand, and talked with me, and said, “O Dani’ĕ

“At the beginning of your supplications a word went out, and I have come to make it known, for you are greatly appreciated. So consider the word and understand the vision:

And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Sha’ul and for Yehonathan his son, and for the people of יהוה  and for the house of Yisra’ĕ

And all the children of Yisra’ĕ

And the children of Yisra’ĕ

and Pineḥ

Set apart a fast. Call an assembly, gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land, into the House of יהוה  your Elohim, and cry out to יהוה.

Alas for the day! For the day of יהוה  is near, and it comes as destruction from the Almighty.

“But days shall come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they shall fast in those days.”

to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, as Mordeḵ

“Cry aloud, do not spare. Lift up your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression, and the house of Yaʽ

“Yet they seek Me day by day, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the right-ruling of their Elohim. They ask of Me rulings of righteousness, they delight in drawing near to Elohim.

They say, ‘Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our beings, and You took no note?’ “Look, in the day of your fasting you find pleasure, and drive on all your labourers.

“Look, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wrongness. You do not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high.

“Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his being? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to יהוה ?

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loosen the tight cords of wrongness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to exempt the oppressed, and to break off every yoke?

“Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, and cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?

“Then your light would break forth like the morning, your healing spring forth speedily. And your righteousness shall go before you, the esteem of יהוה  would be your rear guard.

“Then, when you call, יהוה  would answer; when you cry, He would say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of unrighteousness,

Then יהושע  was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tried by the devil.

And after having fasted forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.

And the trier came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of Elohim, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of יהוה.’ ”

and My people upon whom My Name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I shall hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin and heal their land.

And when day was about to come, Sha’ul urged them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have continued without food, and eaten none at all.

“So I urge you to take food, for this concerns your safety, since not a hair shall fall from the head of any of you.”

And the sovereign went to his palace and spent the night fasting. And no entertainment was brought before him, and his sleep fled from him.

Then the sovereign rose up very early in the morning and hurried to the den of lions.

And when he came to the den, he called with a grieved voice to Dani’ĕ

And יהושע  said to them, “Are the friends of the bridegroom able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days shall come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they shall fast.

Because ardour for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

And I wept in my being with fasting, And it became my reproach.

And it came to be in the fifth year of Yehoyaqim son of Yoshiyahu, sovereign of Yehuḏ

Blow a ram’s horn in Tsiyon, set apart a fast, call an assembly.

And the word reached the sovereign of Ninewĕ

And he proclaimed and said throughout Ninewĕ

“But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and call mightily to Elohim. And let each one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

“Who knows whether Elohim does turn and relent, and shall turn away from the heat of His displeasure, so that we do not perish?”

Then Ezra rose up from before the House of Elohim, and went into the room of Yehoḥ

And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Yaḇ

And on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Yisra’ĕ

And the descendants of Yisra’ĕ

and they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Torah of יהוה  their Elohim a fourth part of the day, and a fourth part they were confessing and worshipping יהוה  their Elohim.

in toil and hardship, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness,

And he was three days without sight, and did not eat nor drink.

“When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which יהוה  made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I did not eat bread nor did I drink water.

And all the children of Yisra’ĕ

And the children of Yisra’ĕ

And the men of Yisra’ĕ

“And when you fast, do not be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces so that they appear to be fasting to men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.

‘I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess.’

I did not eat desirable food, and meat and wine did not come into my mouth, and I did not anoint myself at all, till the completion of three weeks of days.

But You, O יהוה, Master, Deal with me for Your Name’s sake; Because Your kindness is good, deliver me.

For I am poor and needy, And my heart is pierced within me.

I have gone like a lengthening shadow, I have been driven away like a locust.

My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh grows lean from fatness.

I then proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahawa, to humble ourselves before our Elohim, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions,

“But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and call mightily to Elohim. And let each one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

And Mosheh went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And it came to be that Mosheh was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naḇ

Then the taught ones of Yoḥ

And יהושע  said to them, “Are the friends of the bridegroom able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days shall come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they shall fast.

“And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.

“Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

And in every province where the sovereign’s command and decree came, there was great mourning among the Yehuḏ

And Yehoshaphat was afraid, and set his face to seek יהוה, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Yehuḏ

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loosen the tight cords of wrongness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to exempt the oppressed, and to break off every yoke?

“Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, and cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?

“Then your light would break forth like the morning, your healing spring forth speedily. And your righteousness shall go before you, the esteem of יהוה  would be your rear guard.

“Then, when you call, יהוה  would answer; when you cry, He would say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of unrighteousness,

if you extend your being to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted being, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness be as noon.

“Then יהוה  would guide you continually, and satisfy your being in drought, and strengthen your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

“And those from among you shall build the old waste places. You shall raise up the foundations of many generations. And you would be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

And it came to be, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days. And I was fasting and praying before the Elohim of the heavens,

and I said, “I pray, יהוה  Elohim of the heavens, O great and awesome Ě

please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, for the children of Yisra’ĕ

“We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not guarded the commands, nor the laws, nor the right-rulings which You commanded Your servant Mosheh.

“Please remember the word that You commanded Your servant Mosheh, saying, ‘If you trespass, I shall scatter you among the peoples,

but if you shall turn back to Me, and guard My commands and do them, though you were cast out to the end of the heavens, I shall gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen, to make My Name dwell there.’

“And they are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.

“O יהוה, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who delight to fear Your Name. And let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man.” For I was cupbearer to the sovereign.

“Please try your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

And they gathered to Mitspah and drew water, and poured it out before יהוה. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against יהוה.” And Shemu’ĕ

And when the Philistines heard that the children of Yisra’ĕ

And the children of Yisra’ĕ

And let יהוה  be jealous for His land, and spare His people.

And at the evening offering I rose from my affliction. And having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to יהוה  my Elohim,

And Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour. And at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and see, a man stood before me in shining garments,

But the man of Elohim said to the sovereign, “If you were to give me half your house, I do not go in with you, nor do I eat bread nor drink water in this place.

“For so He commanded me by the word of יהוה, saying, ‘Do not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ”

And he said to me, “Do not fear, Dani’ĕ

“But the head of the rule of Persia withstood me twenty-one days. And see, Miḵ

As a deer longs for the water streams, So my being longs for You, O Elohim.

My being thirsts for Elohim, for the living Ě

And I assembled them at the river that flows to Ahawa, and we camped there three days. And I looked among the people and the priests, and did not find any of the sons of Lĕ

Then I sent for Eliʽ

And I gave them a command for Iddo the chief man at the place Kasiphya, and put in their mouth words to speak to Iddo and his brothers the Nethinim at the place Kasiphya, to bring us servants for the House of our Elohim.

Then, by the good hand of our Elohim upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Maḥ

and Ḥ

and of the Nethinim, whom Dawiḏ

I then proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahawa, to humble ourselves before our Elohim, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions,

for I was ashamed to ask of the sovereign a group of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the sovereign, saying, “The hand of our Elohim is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”

So we fasted and prayed to our Elohim for this, and He answered our prayer.

Then יהושע  was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tried by the devil.

And after having fasted forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.

And the trier came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of Elohim, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of יהוה.’ ”

Then the devil took Him up into the set-apart city, set Him on the edge of the Set-apart Place,

and said to Him, “If You are the Son of Elohim, throw Yourself down. For it has been written, ‘He shall command His messengers concerning you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, so that you do not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

יהושע  said to him, “It has also been written, ‘You shall not try יהוה  your Elohim.’ ”

Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain, and showed Him all the reigns of the world, and their esteem,

and said to Him, “All these I shall give You if You fall down and worship me.”

Then יהושע  said to him, “Go, Satan! For it has been written, ‘You shall worship יהוה  your Elohim, and Him alone you shall serve.’ ”

Then the devil left Him, and see, messengers came and attended Him.

And they said to Him, “Why do the taught ones of Yoḥ

And He said to them, “Are you able to make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?

“But days shall come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they shall fast in those days.”

And the children of Yisra’ĕ

and Pineḥ

In the first year of Dareyawesh the son of Aḥ

in the first year of his reign I, Dani’ĕ

So I set my face toward יהוה  the Elohim to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

And Nathan went to his house, and יהוה  smote the child that Uriyah’s wife had born to Dawiḏ

And Dawiḏ

So the elders of his house stood up over him, to raise him up from the earth. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

And on the seventh day it came to be that the child died. And the servants of Dawiḏ

And Dawiḏ

Dawiḏ

And his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept because of the living child, but when the child died, you rose up and ate food.”

And he said, “While the child was alive I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether יהוה  shows favour unto me, and the child shall live?’

“But now he is dead, why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back again? I am going to him, but he does not return to me.”

Gird yourselves and lament, you priests. Wail, you attendants of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you attendants of my Elohim. For the grain offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your Elohim.

Set apart a fast. Call an assembly, gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land, into the House of יהוה  your Elohim, and cry out to יהוה.

and I said, “I pray, יהוה  Elohim of the heavens, O great and awesome Ě

please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, for the children of Yisra’ĕ

“We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not guarded the commands, nor the laws, nor the right-rulings which You commanded Your servant Mosheh.

“Please remember the word that You commanded Your servant Mosheh, saying, ‘If you trespass, I shall scatter you among the peoples,

but if you shall turn back to Me, and guard My commands and do them, though you were cast out to the end of the heavens, I shall gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen, to make My Name dwell there.’

“And they are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.

“O יהוה, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who delight to fear Your Name. And let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man.” For I was cupbearer to the sovereign.

And I wept in my being with fasting, And it became my reproach.

And when I put on sackcloth, I became a proverb to them.

if you extend your being to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted being, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness be as noon.

“Then יהוה  would guide you continually, and satisfy your being in drought, and strengthen your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

But Dani’ĕ

And Elohim granted Dani’ĕ

but the chief of the eunuchs said to Dani’ĕ

And Dani’ĕ

“Please try your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

“Then let our appearances be examined before you, and the appearances of the young men who eat the portion of the sovereign’s food. And do with your servants as you see fit.”

And he listened to them in this matter, and tried them ten days.

And at the end of ten days their appearances looked better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the sovereign’s food.

And it came to be that the overseer took away their portion of food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place. And your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.

And I assembled them at the river that flows to Ahawa, and we camped there three days. And I looked among the people and the priests, and did not find any of the sons of Lĕ

And Dawiḏ

And Dawiḏ

O Elohim, You are my Ě

Therefore I have had a vision of You In the set-apart place, To see Your power and Your esteem.

Because Your kindness is better than life, My lips do praise You.

Therefore I bless You while I live; In Your Name I lift up my hands.

My being is satisfied as with marrow and fat, And my mouth praises You with singing lips.

And he prayed to יהוה, and he said, “Please, יהוה, was this not what I said while I was in my own land? This is why I went ahead and fled to Tarshish. For I know that You are an Ě

Oh, taste and see that יהוה  is good; Blessed is the man that takes refuge in Him!

Fear יהוה, you His set-apart ones, For there is no lack to them who fear Him!

Young lions have lacked and been hungry; But those who seek יהוה  lack not any good matter.

My being has longed, and even fainted, For the courts of יהוה ; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living Ě

Let them give thanks to יהוה  for His kindness, And His wonders to the children of men!

For He has satisfied a longing being, And has filled the hungry being with goodness.

And there was Ḥ

and she was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not leave the Set-apart Place, but served Elohim with fastings and prayers night and day.

Then he said to them, “Go, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom none is prepared. For this day is set-apart to our יהוה. Do not be sad, for the joy of יהוה  is your strength.”

And let יהוה  be jealous for His land, and spare His people.

And let יהוה  answer and say to His people, “See, I am sending you the grain and the new wine and the oil, and you shall be satisfied by them. And no longer do I make you a reproach among the gentiles.

And Mordeḵ

to establish among them, to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Aḏ

as the days on which the Yehuḏ

And in the assembly that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: both Barnaḇ

And as they were doing service to the Master and fasted, the Set-apart Spirit said, “Separate unto Me Barnaḇ

Then having fasted and prayed, and having laid hands on them, they sent them away.

“If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day, and shall call the Sabbath ‘a delight,’ the set-apart day of יהוה  ‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,

then you shall delight yourself in יהוה. And I shall cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Yaʽ

And after this it came to be that the children of Mo’aḇ

And they came and spoke to Yehoshaphat, saying, “A great army is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Aram. And see, they are in Ḥ

And Yehoshaphat was afraid, and set his face to seek יהוה, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Yehuḏ

And Yehuḏ

And Yehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Yehuḏ

and said, “O יהוה  Elohim of our fathers, are You not Elohim in the heavens, and do You not rule over all the reigns of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to stand against You?

“Are You not our Elohim? You have driven out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Yisra’ĕ

“And they dwell in it, and have built You a set-apart place in it for Your Name, saying,

‘If evil does come upon us, such as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or scarcity of food, we shall stand before this House and in Your presence – for Your Name is in this House – and cry out to You in our distress, and You do hear and save.’

“And now, see, the children of Ammon and Mo’aḇ

and see, they are repaying us by coming in to drive us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.

“O our Elohim, would You not judge them? For we are powerless against this great army that is coming against us. And we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

And all Yehuḏ

And the Spirit of יהוה  came upon Yaḥ

and he said, “Listen, all Yehuḏ

‘Go down against them tomorrow. See, they are coming up by the ascent of Tsits, and you shall find them at the end of the wadi before the Wilderness of Yeru’ĕ

‘It is not for you to fight in this. Position yourselves, stand still and see the deliverance of יהוה  with you, O Yehuḏ

And Yehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Yehuḏ

And the Lĕ

And they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Teqowa. And as they went out, Yehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Yehuḏ

And after consulting with the people, he appointed those who should sing to יהוה, and who should praise the splendour of set-apartness, as they went out before the army and were saying, “Give thanks to יהוה, for His kindness is everlasting.”

And when they began singing and praising, יהוה  set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Mo’aḇ

Then the children of Ammon and Mo’aḇ

And when Yehuḏ

And Yehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, and they found among them a great amount of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could take away. And they were three days plundering the spoil, for it was much.

And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beraḵ

Then they returned, every man of Yehuḏ

And they came to Yerushalayim, with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the House of יהוה.

And the fear of Elohim was on all the reigns of the lands when they heard that יהוה  had fought against the enemies of Yisra’ĕ

Then the reign of Yehoshaphat was at peace, for his Elohim gave him rest on all sides.

And Dani’ĕ

“Please try your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

And it came to be, when Aḥ

And the children of Yisra’ĕ

And the children of Yisra’ĕ

And the men of Yisra’ĕ

And the children of Binyamin came out of Giḇ

But the people, the men of Yisra’ĕ

And the children of Yisra’ĕ

And the children of Yisra’ĕ

And Binyamin went out against them from Giḇ

And all the children of Yisra’ĕ

And after having fasted forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.

And the trier came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of Elohim, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of יהוה.’ ”

“Then, when you call, יהוה  would answer; when you cry, He would say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of unrighteousness,

if you extend your being to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted being, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness be as noon.

Set apart a fast. Call an assembly, gather the elders, all the inhabitants of the land, into the House of יהוה  your Elohim, and cry out to יהוה.

Alas for the day! For the day of יהוה  is near, and it comes as destruction from the Almighty.

Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the House of our Elohim?

And he proclaimed and said throughout Ninewĕ

“But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and call mightily to Elohim. And let each one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

“Who knows whether Elohim does turn and relent, and shall turn away from the heat of His displeasure, so that we do not perish?”

And Elohim saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. And Elohim relented from the evil which He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it.

and they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Torah of יהוה  their Elohim a fourth part of the day, and a fourth part they were confessing and worshipping יהוה  their Elohim.

And Nathan went to his house, and יהוה  smote the child that Uriyah’s wife had born to Dawiḏ

And Dawiḏ

And the sovereign went to his palace and spent the night fasting. And no entertainment was brought before him, and his sleep fled from him.

Then the sovereign rose up very early in the morning and hurried to the den of lions.

And when he came to the den, he called with a grieved voice to Dani’ĕ

Then Dani’ĕ

“My Elah has sent His messenger and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they did not harm me, because I was found innocent before Him. And also before you, O sovereign, I have done no harm.”

Then the sovereign was very glad and gave orders that Dani’ĕ

And the sovereign gave orders and they brought those men who had accused Dani’ĕ

being tried for forty days by the devil. And in those days He did not eat at all, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

And immediately there fell from his eyes, as it were scales, and he received his sight. And rising up, he was immersed.

And having received food, he was strengthened. And Sha’ul was with the taught ones at Damascus some days.

Then Ezra rose up from before the House of Elohim, and went into the room of Yehoḥ

And they passed a call throughout Yehuḏ

and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the leaders and elders, all his goods would be put under a ban, and himself separated from the assembly of the exiles.

“Yet even now,” declares יהוה, “turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”

In the third year of Koresh sovereign of Persia a word was revealed to Dani’ĕ

In those days I, Dani’ĕ

I did not eat desirable food, and meat and wine did not come into my mouth, and I did not anoint myself at all, till the completion of three weeks of days.

And everyone who competes controls himself in every way. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we for an incorruptible crown.

Therefore I run accordingly, not with uncertainty. Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air.

But I treat my body severely and make it my slave, so that when I have proclaimed to others, I myself might be rejected.

Oh, taste and see that יהוה  is good; Blessed is the man that takes refuge in Him!

O Elohim, You are my Ě

And I prayed to יהוה  my Elohim, and made confession, and said, “O יהוה, great and awesome Ě

“We have sinned and did crookedness, and did wrong and rebelled, to turn aside from Your commands and from Your right-rulings.

“And we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your Name to our sovereigns, our heads, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

And they said to Him, “Why do the taught ones of Yoḥ