And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh {month}, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, {even} to me?

Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; {establish: or, raise up}

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what {is} that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which {is} not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. {present: Heb. found}

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

But as for me, my prayer {is} unto thee, O LORD, {in} an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. {himself: Heb. his face}

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

And {this} shall be a statute for ever unto you: {that} in the seventh month, on the tenth {day} of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, {whether it be} one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:

And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, {there was} great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. {many...: Heb. sackcloth and ashes were laid under many}

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and {when} he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

Wherefore have we fasted, {say they}, and thou seest not? {wherefore} have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. {labours: or, things wherewith ye grieve others: Heb. griefs}

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. {are: or, be ye}

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, {he had} sackcloth within upon his flesh.

Also on the tenth {day} of this seventh month {there shall be} a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing {was} sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. {humbled: or, afflicted}

And {this} shall be a statute for ever unto you: {that} in the seventh month, on the tenth {day} of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, {whether it be} one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:

Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. {a lengthening...: or, an healing of thine error}

And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, {there was} great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. {many...: Heb. sackcloth and ashes were laid under many}

It {shall be} a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

Wherefore I abhor {myself}, and repent in dust and ashes.

And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love {his} neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, {he had} sackcloth within upon his flesh.

And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he {is} gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Masters, give unto {your} servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

He that regardeth the day, regardeth {it} unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard {it}. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. {regardeth: or, observeth}

Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.

When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;