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. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ^(D)“The hand of our God is for good on ^(E)all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” ²³ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

³¹ Then we departed from the river Ahava ^(A)on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. ^(B)The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. ^32 (C)We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. ³³ On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were ^(D)weighed into the hands of ^(E)Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, ^(F)Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of ^(G)Binnui. ³⁴ The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

³⁵ At that time ^(H)those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, ^(I)twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ^36 (J)They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's ^(K)satraps^[a] and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God.