Ezra 8:21-23 - Ezra Proclaims A Fast
21 Then I gave orders for a time of going without food, there by the Ahava River, so that we might make ourselves low before our God in prayer, requesting from him a safe journey for us and for our little ones and for all our substance. 22 I would not make request to the king for a band of armed men and horsemen to give us help against those who might attack us on the way. We said to the king: The hand (power) (protection) of our God is on his servants for good, but his power and his wrath are against all those who have turned away from him. 23 So we went without food, requesting our God for this: and his ear was open to our prayer.