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Zechariah 7:5
“ Say to all your people and your priests,‘ During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting?
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Isaiah 61:2
He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.
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Isaiah 49:8
This is what the Lord says:“ At just the right time, I will respond to you. On the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you and give you to the people as my covenant with them. Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel and assign it to its own people again.
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Daniel 9:3-19
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:“ O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.“ Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you.O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets.All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice.“ So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin.You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem.Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth.Therefore, the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him.“ O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness.In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.“ O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.“ O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city— the city that bears your name— lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.“ O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name.”
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Leviticus 16:29
“ On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn, you must deny yourselves. Neither native born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you.
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Psalms 69:13
But I keep praying to you, Lord, hoping this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation.
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Luke 4:19
and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”
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1 Peter 2 5
And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
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Job 2:8
Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes.
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Esther 4:16
“ Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”
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Nehemiah 9:1-2
On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads.Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors.
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Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
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2 Kings 6 30
When the king heard this, he tore his clothes in despair. And as the king walked along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing burlap under his robe next to his skin.
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Ezra 10:6
Then Ezra left the front of the Temple of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. He spent the night there without eating or drinking anything. He was still in mourning because of the unfaithfulness of the returned exiles.
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2 Chronicles 20 3
Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.
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Jonah 3:5-8
The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:“ No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.
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Esther 4:3
And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.
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Isaiah 58:3
‘ We have fasted before you!’ they say.‘ Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’“ I will tell you why!” I respond.“ It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers.
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1 Kings 21 27-1 Kings 21 29
But when Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap, and fasted. He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning.Then another message from the Lord came to Elijah:“ Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons; I will destroy his dynasty.”