Fasting; The True Treasure; Wealth

¹⁶ “Now ^(A)whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they ^[a]distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. ^(B)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ¹⁷ But as for you, when you fast, ^[b](C)anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your ^(D)Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

²⁸ So he was there with the Lord for ^(A)forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And ^[a](B)He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, ^(C)the Ten ^[b]Commandments.

² And after He had ^(A)fasted for forty days and forty nights, He ^[a]then became hungry.

¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; ^(A)do not eat or drink for ^(B)three days, night or day. I and my attendants also will fast in the same way. And then I will go in to the king, which is not in accordance with the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

Protection of God Invoked

²¹ Then I proclaimed ^(A)a fast there at ^(B)the river of Ahava, to ^(C)humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a ^[a]safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. ²² For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to ^[b]protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “^(D)The hand of our God is ^[c]favorably disposed to all who seek Him, but ^(E)His power and His anger are against all those who ^(F)abandon Him.” ²³ So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He ^[d](G)listened to our pleading.

⁵ Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a ^(A)fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. ⁶ When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, removed his robe from himself, ^(B)covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ^[a]dust.

¹² “Please put your servants to the test for ten days, and let us be ^(A)given some vegetables to eat and water to drink.

³ I ^(A)did not eat any ^[a]tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.