Ezra 8:21

“It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a perpetual statute.

And Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek Yahweh, and called for a fast throughout all Judah.

Now I gathered them at the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days. And I observed the people and the priests, but I did not find any Levites there.

Then we set out from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the way.

He led them by a straight way, To go to an inhabited city.

And he cried out and said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, animal, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat, and do not let them drink water.

God’s Protection Sought