Ezra 8:21-23

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

²¹ And I proclaimed there a fast by the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before the Lord our God, and might ask of him a right way for us and for our children, and for all our substance.

²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for aid and for horsemen, to defend us from the enemy in the way: because we had said to the king: The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him in goodness: and his power and strength, and wrath upon all them that forsake him.

²³ And we fasted, and besought our God for this: and it fell out prosperously unto us.