²⁸ Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights^(A) without eating bread or drinking water.^(B) And he wrote on the tablets^(C) the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.^(D)

¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying^(A) in sackcloth^[a] on the ground.

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast^(A) for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”^(B)

² At that time I, Daniel, mourned^(A) for three weeks. ³ I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips;^(B) and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.^(A) For some days I mourned and fasted^(B) and prayed before the God of heaven.