And I will set out a meal of bread, so that you may strengthen your heart; after this you will pass on. It is for this reason that you have turned aside to your servant." And they said, "Do as you have spoken."
Then Absalom commanded his servants, saying: "Observe when Amnon will have become drunk with wine. And when I say to you, 'Strike and kill him!' do not be afraid. For it is I who commands you. Be strong and valiant men."
For behold, the sovereign Lord of hosts will take away, from Jerusalem and from Judah, the powerful and the strong: all the strength from bread, and all the strength from water;
And in the same manner as rain and snow descend from heaven, and no longer return there, but soak the earth, and water it, and cause it to bloom and to provide seed to the sower and bread to the hungry,
And they will arrive and give praise on Mount Zion. And they will flow together, to the good things of the Lord, over grain, and wine, and oil, and the offspring of cattle and herds. And their soul will be like an irrigated garden, and they will no longer be hungry.
"Son of man, when a land will have sinned against me, so that it transgresses grievously, I will extend my hand over it, and I will crush the staff of its bread. And I will send a famine upon it, and I will destroy from it both man and beast.
And he said to me: "Son of man, behold: I will crush the staff of bread in Jerusalem. And they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety. And they will drink water by measure and with anguish.
I, the Lord, have spoken. At that time, I will send among them the most grievous arrows of famine, which shall bring death, and which I will send so that I may destroy you. And I will gather a famine over you, and I will crush the staff of bread among you.
After this, I will have broken the staff of your bread, so that ten women bake bread in one oven, and distribute it by weight. And you shall eat and not be filled.
And they will be like the strong of Ephraim, and their heart will rejoice as if by wine, and their sons will see and will rejoice, and their heart will exult in the Lord.
He afflicted you with need, and he gave you Manna as your food, which neither you nor your fathers knew, so as to reveal to you that it is not by bread alone that man lives, but by every word that goes forth from the mouth of God.
You have loved justice, and you have hated iniquity. Because of this, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of exultation, above your companions."
But on the fourth day, arising in the night, he intended to set out. But his father-in-law took hold of him, and he said to him, "First taste a little bread, and strengthen your stomach, and then you shall set out."