Ezra 8:21
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Fasting and Prayer for Protection
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the River Ahava, that we might humble ourselves[a] before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.(A)
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- 8.21 Or fast
2 Chronicles 20:3
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3 Jehoshaphat was afraid; he set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.(A)
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Joel 1:14
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14 Consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.(A)
Jonah 3:5
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5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.(A)
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Isaiah 30:21
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21 And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”(A)
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1 Samuel 7:6
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6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted that day and said, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.(A)
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Psalm 143:8-10
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8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.(A)
9 Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;
I have fled to you for refuge.[a](B)
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
on a level path.(C)
Footnotes
- 143.9 Heb ms Gk: MT to you I have hidden
Leviticus 23:29
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29 For those who do not humble themselves[a] during that entire day shall be cut off from the people.(A)
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- 23.29 Or do not fast
Leviticus 16:29
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29 “This shall be a statute to you forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves[a] and shall do no work, neither the native-born nor the alien who resides among you.(A)
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- 16.29 Or shall fast
Joel 2:12-18
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12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;(A)
13 rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
and relenting from punishment.(B)
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?(C)
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;(D)
16 gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her canopy.(E)
17 Between the vestibule and the altar,
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”(F)
God’s Response and Promise
18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land
and had pity on his people.(G)
Psalm 107:2-8
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2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble(A)
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.[a](B)
4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;(C)
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress;(D)
7 he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town.(E)
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.(F)
Footnotes
- 107.3 Cn: Heb sea
Psalm 5:8
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8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.(A)
Ezra 8:15
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Servants for the Temple
15 I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the descendants of Levi.(A)
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Acts 2:39
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39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”(A)
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Mark 10:13-16
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Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 People were bringing children to him in order that he might touch them, and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”(A) 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.(B)
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Jeremiah 50:4-5
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4 In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel shall come, they and the people of Judah together; they shall come weeping as they seek the Lord their God.(A) 5 They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and they shall come and join themselves to the Lord by an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
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Jeremiah 31:8-9
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8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
those with child and those in labor together;
a great company, they shall return here.(A)
9 With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations[a] I will lead them back;
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path where they shall not stumble,
for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.(B)
Footnotes
- 31.9 Gk: Heb supplications
Jeremiah 10:23
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23 I know, O Lord, that the way of humans is not in their control,
that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.(A)
Isaiah 58:5
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5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?(A)
Isaiah 58:3
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3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
and oppress all your workers.(A)
Isaiah 49:10
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10 they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
for he who has pity on them will lead them
and by springs of water will guide them.(A)
Isaiah 42:16
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16 I will lead the blind
by a road they do not know;
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.(A)
Isaiah 35:8
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8 A highway shall be there,[a]
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,[b]
but it shall be for God’s people;[c]
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.(A)
Proverbs 3:6
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6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.(A)
Psalm 8:2
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2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.