⁷ And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, ^(A)“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor ^(B)beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,

³ Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face ^(A)to seek the Lord, and ^(B)proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

^5 (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.

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.

²⁰ For the creation ^(A)was subjected to futility, not willingly, but ^(B)because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that ^(C)the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that ^(D)the whole creation ^(E)has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.