7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, r“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor sbeast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,
2 “Arise, go to lNineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
3 And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor1 bwith saws and iron picks and axes.2 And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
Fasting and Prayer for Protection
21 iThen I proclaimed a fast there, at the river jAhava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, kto seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.
18 How fthe beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.1
5 mAnd the people of Nineveh believed God. nThey called for a fast and oput on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
15 rBlow the trumpet in Zion;
sconsecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16 gather the people.
tConsecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
ugather the children,
even nursing infants.
vLet the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
20 For the creation pwas subjected to futility, not willingly, but qbecause of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that rthe 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 sthe whole creation thas been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
