All the people of Israel gathered together in the square by the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the teacher to bring out the Book of the Teachings of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel.
On the twenty-fourth day of that same month, the people of Israel gathered. They fasted, and they wore rough cloth and put dust on their heads to show their sadness.
“Go and get all the Jewish people in Susa together. For my sake, fast; do not eat or drink for three days, night and day. I and my servant girls will also fast. Then I will go to the king, even though it is against the law, and if I die, I die.”
So the rain has not come, and there have not been any spring rains. But your face still looks like the face of a prostitute. You refuse even to be ashamed of what you did.
They should be ashamed of the terrible way they act, but they are not ashamed at all. They don’t even know how to blush about their sins. So they will fall, along with everyone else. They will be thrown to the ground when I punish them,” says the Lord.
Call for a day when everyone fasts! Tell everyone to stop work! Bring the elders and everyone who lives in the land to the Temple of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.
But the Lord is good, and he is there in that city. He does no wrong. Every morning he governs the people fairly; every day he can be trusted. But evil people are not ashamed of what they do.
