Fasting and Prayer for Protection

21 (A)Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river (B)Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, (C)to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.

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Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face (A)to seek the Lord, and (B)proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

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14 (A)Consecrate a fast;
    (B)call a solemn assembly.
Gather (C)the elders
    and (D)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.

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21 (A)And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is (B)the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

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So they gathered at (A)Mizpah (B)and drew water and poured it out before the Lord (C)and fasted on that day and said there, (D)“We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.

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(A)And the people of Nineveh believed God. (B)They called for a fast and (C)put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

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29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that (A)in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall (B)afflict yourselves[a] and shall do no work, either (C)the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 16:29 Or shall fast; also verse 31

29 For whoever is not afflicted[a] on that very day (A)shall be cut off from his people.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 23:29 Or is not fasting

Return to the Lord

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    (A)“return to me with all your heart,
(B)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13     and (C)rend your hearts and not (D)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    (E)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    (F)and he relents over disaster.
14 (G)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and (H)leave a blessing behind him,
(I)a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

15 (J)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    (K)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16     gather the people.
(L)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
(M)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
(N)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

17 (O)Between the (P)vestibule and the (Q)altar
    (R)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.[a]
(S)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Had Pity

18 (T)Then the Lord became jealous for his land
    (U)and had pity on his people.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 2:17 Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them

(A)Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
    for in you I (B)trust.
(C)Make me know the way I should go,
    (D)for to you I lift up my soul.

(E)Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
    I have fled to you for refuge.[a]
10 (F)Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God!
(G)Let your good Spirit (H)lead me
    on (I)level ground!

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 143:9 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts To you I have covered

Let (A)the redeemed of the Lord say so,
    whom he has (B)redeemed from trouble[a]
and (C)gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

Some (D)wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way (E)to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty,
    their soul (F)fainted within them.
Then they (G)cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by (H)a straight way
    till they reached (I)a city to dwell in.
(J)Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 107:2 Or from the hand of the foe

39 For (A)the promise is for you and (B)for your children and for all (C)who are far off, everyone (D)whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

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16 (A)And I will lead the blind
    in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
    I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
    (B)the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
    and I do not forsake them.

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(A)Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    (B)make your way straight before me.

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Ezra Sends for Levites

15 I gathered them to the river that runs to (A)Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there (B)none of the sons of Levi.

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Let the Children Come to Me

13 (A)And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples (B)rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, (C)“Let the children come to me; (D)do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 (E)Truly, I say to you, whoever does not (F)receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And (G)he took them in his arms and blessed them, (H)laying his hands on them.

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(A)“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, (B)the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, (C)weeping as they come, and they (D)shall seek the Lord their God. (E)They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, (F)saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an (G)everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’

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Behold, I will bring them (A)from the north country
    and (B)gather them from (C)the farthest parts of the earth,
among them (D)the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
(E)With weeping they shall come,
    (F)and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them (G)walk by brooks of water,
    (H)in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for (I)I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is (J)my firstborn.

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23 (A)I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
    that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

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