Mi She’ana: Finding Our Answers

(4) For the conclusion of the first blessing: Redeemer of Israel, he recites: The One Who answered Abraham on Mount Moriah (see Genesis 22:11–18), will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, Redeemer of Israel. For the second blessing, to which he adds the verses of Remembrances, he recites: The One Who answered our ancestors at the Sea of Reeds (see Exodus 14:15–31), will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, Who remembers the forgotten. For the third blessing, which includes the verses of Shofarot, he recites: The One Who answered Joshua at Gilgal, when they sounded the shofar in Jericho (see Joshua 5:6), will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, Who hears the terua. For the fourth blessing, he recites: The One Who answered Samuel in Mizpah (see I Samuel, chapter 7), will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, Who hears cries. For the fifth he recites: The One Who answered Elijah on Mount Carmel (see I Kings, chapter 18), The One will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, Who hears prayer. For the sixth blessing he recites: The One Who answered Jonah from within the innards of the fish (see Jonah 2:2–11), will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, Who answers in a time of trouble. For the conclusion of the seventh blessing, which is actually the sixth additional blessing, as the first blessing listed here is an expanded version of a regular weekday blessing, he recites: The One Who answered David and Solomon his son in Jerusalem (see I Kings 8:12–53), will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, Who has mercy on the Land.

(11) Then a messenger of יהוה called to him from heaven: “Abraham! Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” (12) “Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me.” (13) When Abraham looked up, his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son. (14) And Abraham named that site Adonai-yireh, [I.e., “יהוה will see”] whence the present saying, “On the mount of יהוה there is vision.” (15) The messenger of יהוה called to Abraham a second time from heaven, (16) and said, “By Myself I swear, יהוה declares: Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your favored one, (17) I will bestow My blessing upon you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore; and your descendants shall seize the gates of their foes. (18) All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed My command.”

(15) Then יהוה said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. (16) And you lift up your rod and hold out your arm over the sea and split it, so that the Israelites may march into the sea on dry ground. (17) And I will stiffen the hearts of the Egyptians so that they go in after them; and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his warriors, his chariots, and his riders. (18) Let the Egyptians know that I am יהוה, when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his riders.” (19) The messenger of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them, (20) and it came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel. Thus there was the cloud with the darkness, and it cast a spell upon the night, so that the one could not come near the other all through the night. (21) Then Moses held out his arm over the sea and יהוה drove back the sea with a strong east wind all that night, and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split, (22) and the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. (23) The Egyptians came in pursuit after them into the sea, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and riders. (24) At the morning watch, יהוה looked down upon the Egyptian army from a pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. (25) [God] locked the wheels of their chariots so that they moved forward with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for יהוה is fighting for them against Egypt.” (26) Then יהוה said to Moses, “Hold out your arm over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians and upon their chariots and upon their riders.” (27) Moses held out his arm over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state, and the Egyptians fled at its approach. But יהוה hurled the Egyptians into the sea. (28) The waters turned back and covered the chariots and the riders—Pharaoh’s entire army that followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. (29) But the Israelites had marched through the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. (30) Thus יהוה delivered Israel that day from the Egyptians. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea. (31) And when Israel saw the wondrous power which יהוה had wielded against the Egyptians, the people feared יהוה; they had faith in יהוה and in God’s servant Moses.

(1) (Now Jericho was shut up tight because of the Israelites; no one could leave or enter.) (2) GOD said to Joshua, “See, I will deliver Jericho into your hands—its king and warriors. (3) Let all your troops march around the city and complete one circuit of the city. Do this six days, (4) with seven priests carrying seven ram’s horns preceding the Ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. (5) And when a long blast is sounded on the horn—as soon as you hear that sound of the horn—all the troops shall give a mighty shout. Thereupon the city wall will collapse, and the troops shall advance, every man straight ahead.” (6) Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and let seven priests carrying seven ram’s horns precede the Ark of GOD.” (7) And he instructed the troops, “Go forward, march around the city, with the vanguard marching in front of the Ark of GOD.” (8) When Joshua had instructed the troops, the seven priests carrying seven ram’s horns advanced before GOD, blowing their horns; and the Ark of GOD’s Covenant followed them. (9) The vanguard marched in front of the priests who were blowing the horns, and the rear guard marched behind the Ark, with the horns sounding all the time. (10) But Joshua’s orders to the rest of the troops were, “Do not shout, do not let your voices be heard, and do not let a sound issue from your lips until the moment that I command you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” (11) So he had the Ark of GOD go around the city and complete one circuit; then they returned to camp and spent the night in camp. (12) Joshua rose early the next day; and the priests took up the Ark of GOD, (13) while the seven priests bearing the seven ram’s horns marched in front of the Ark of GOD, blowing the horns as they marched. The vanguard marched in front of them, and the rear guard marched behind the Ark of GOD, with the horns sounding all the time. (14) And so they marched around the city once on the second day and returned to the camp. They did this six days. (15) On the seventh day, they rose at daybreak and marched around the city, in the same manner, seven times; that was the only day that they marched around the city seven times. (16) On the seventh round, as the priests blew the horns, Joshua commanded the troops, “Shout! For GOD has given you the city.

(1) The men of Kiriat-ye’arim came and took up the Ark of the LORD and brought it into the house of Avinadav on the hill; and they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the Ark of the LORD. (2) A long time elapsed from the day that the Ark was housed in Kiriat-ye’arim, twenty years in all; and all the House of Israel yearned after the LORD. (3) And Samuel said to all the House of Israel, “If you mean to return to the LORD with all your heart, you must remove the alien gods and the Ashtarot from your midst and direct your heart to the LORD and serve G-d alone. Then G-d will deliver you from the hands of the Philistines.” (4) And the Israelites removed the Ba’alim and Ashtarot and they served the LORD alone. (5) Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.” (6) They assembled at Mizpah, and they drew water and poured it out before the LORD; they fasted that day, and there they confessed that they had sinned against the LORD. And Samuel acted as chieftain of the Israelites at Mizpah. (7) When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had assembled at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines marched out against Israel. Hearing of this, the Israelites were terrified of the Philistines (8) and they implored Samuel, “Do not neglect us and do not refrain from crying out to the LORD our God to save us from the hands of the Philistines.” (9) Thereupon Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD; and Samuel cried out to the LORD in behalf of Israel, and the LORD responded to him. (10) For as Samuel was presenting the burnt offering and the Philistines advanced to attack Israel, the LORD thundered mightily against the Philistines that day. God threw them into confusion, and they were routed by Israel. (11) The men of Israel sallied out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, striking them down to a point below Beit-kar. (12) Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Evan-ezer: [literally “Stone of Help.”] “For up to now,” he said, “the LORD has helped us.” (13) The Philistines were humbled and did not invade the territory of Israel again; and the hand of the LORD was set against the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. (14) The towns which the Philistines had taken from Israel, from Ekron to Gat, were restored to Israel; Israel recovered all her territory from the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. (15) Samuel judged Israel as long as he lived. (16) Each year he made the rounds of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and acted as judge over Israel at all those places. (17) Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there too he would judge Israel. He built an altar there to the LORD.

(1) Much later, in the third year, [Of the drought; see 17:1] the word of GOD came to Elijah: “Go, appear before Ahab; then I will send rain upon the earth.” (2) Thereupon Elijah set out to appear before Ahab.
The famine was severe in Samaria. (3) Ahab had summoned Obadiah, the steward of the palace. (Obadiah revered GOD greatly. (4) When Jezebel was killing off the prophets of GOD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and provided them with food and drink.) (5) And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land, to all the springs of water and to all the wadis. Perhaps we shall find some grass to keep horses and mules alive, so that we are not left without beasts.” (6) They divided the country between them to explore it, Ahab going alone in one direction and Obadiah going alone in another direction. (7) Obadiah was on the road, when Elijah suddenly confronted him. [Obadiah] recognized him and flung himself on his face, saying, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?” (8) “Yes, it is I,” he answered. “Go tell your lord: Elijah is here!” (9) But he said, “What wrong have I done, that you should hand your servant over to Ahab to be killed? (10) As the ETERNAL your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to look for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear that you could not be found. (11) And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord: Elijah is here!’ (12) When I leave you, the spirit of GOD will carry you off I don’t know where; and when I come and tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. Yet your servant has revered GOD from my youth. (13) My lord has surely been told what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of GOD, how I hid a hundred of the prophets of GOD, fifty to a cave, and provided them with food and drink. (14) And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord: Elijah is here.’ Why, he will kill me!” (15) Elijah replied, “As GOD of Hosts lives, whom I serve, I will appear before him this very day.” (16) Obadiah went to find Ahab, and informed him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. (17) When Ahab caught sight of Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” (18) He retorted, “It is not I who have brought trouble on Israel, but you and your father’s House, by forsaking the commandments of GOD and going after the Baalim. (19) Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, together with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” [I.e., who are maintained by Jezebel.] (20) Ahab sent orders to all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. (21) Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you keep hopping between two opinions? If the ETERNAL is God, then follow [the ETERNAL]; and if Baal, follow [Baal]!” But the people answered him not a word. (22) Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only prophet of GOD left, while the prophets of Baal number four hundred and fifty. (23) Let two young bulls be given to us. Let them choose one bull, cut it up, and lay it on the wood, but let them not apply fire; I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and will not apply fire. (24) You will then invoke your god by name, and I will invoke GOD by name; and it shall be that the god who responds with fire, that one is God.” And all the people answered, “Very good!” (25) Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull and prepare it first, for you are the majority; invoke your god by name, but apply no fire.” (26) They took the bull that was given them; they prepared it, and invoked Baal by name from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one who responded; so they performed a hopping dance about the altar that had been set up. (27) When noon came, Elijah mocked them, saying, “Shout louder! After all, he is a god. But he may be in conversation, he may be detained, or he may be on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and will wake up.” (28) So they shouted louder, and gashed themselves with knives and spears, according to their practice, until the blood streamed over them. (29) When noon passed, they kept raving until the hour of presenting the grain offering. Still there was no sound, and no one who responded or heeded. (30) Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”; and all the people came closer to him. He repaired the damaged altar of GOD. (31) Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob—to whom the word of GOD had come: “Israel shall be your name” [See Gen. 35.10]— (32) and with the stones he built an altar in the name of GOD. Around the altar he made a trench large enough for two seahs of seed. [I.e., an area that would require two seahs of seed if sown. Cf. Lev. 27:16; Isa. 5:10.] (33) He laid out the wood, and he cut up the bull and laid it on the wood. (34) And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it over the burnt offering and the wood.” Then he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. “Do it a third time,” he said; and they did it a third time. (35) The water ran down around the altar, and even the trench was filled with water. (36) When it was time to present the grain offering, the prophet Elijah came forward and said, “O ETERNAL One, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel! Let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your bidding. (37) Answer me, O ETERNAL One, answer me, that this people may know that You, O ETERNAL One, are God; for You have turned their hearts backward.” (38) Then fire from GOD descended and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the earth; and it licked up the water that was in the trench. (39) When they saw this, all the people flung themselves on their faces and cried out: “the ETERNAL One alone is God, the ETERNAL One alone is God!” (40) Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal, let not a single one of them get away.” They seized them, and Elijah took them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there. (41) Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a rumbling of [approaching] rain,” (42) and Ahab went up to eat and drink. Elijah meanwhile climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, crouched on the ground, and put his face between his knees. (43) And he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the Sea.” He went up and looked and reported, “There is nothing.” Seven times [Elijah] said, “Go back,” (44) and the seventh time, [the servant] reported, “A cloud as small as a person’s hand is rising in the west.” Then [Elijah] said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Hitch up [your chariot] and go down before the rain stops you.’” (45) Meanwhile the sky grew black with clouds; there was wind, and a heavy downpour fell; Ahab mounted his chariot and drove off to Jezreel. (46) GOD’s hand had come upon Elijah. He tied up his skirts and ran in front of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

(2) Jonah prayed to the ETERNAL his God from the belly of the fish. (3) He said:
In my trouble I called to GOD,
Who answered me;
From the belly of Sheol I cried out,
And You heard my voice. (4) You cast me into the depths,
Into the heart of the sea,
The floods engulfed me;
All Your breakers and billows
Swept over me. (5) I thought I was driven away
Out of Your sight:
Would I ever gaze again
Upon Your holy temple? (6) The waters closed in over me,
The deep engulfed me.
Weeds twined around my head. (7) I sank to the base of the mountains;
The bars of the earth closed upon me forever.
Yet You brought my life up from the pit,
My ETERNAL God! (8) When my life was ebbing away,
I called GOD to mind;
And my prayer came before You,
Into Your holy temple. (9) They who cling to empty folly
Forsake their own welfare, ​​​​​​​(10) But I, with loud thanksgiving,
Will sacrifice to You;
What I have vowed I will perform.
Deliverance is GOD’s! (11) GOD commanded the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon dry land.

(1) When Solomon had finished building the House of GOD and the royal palace and everything that Solomon had set his heart on constructing, (2) GOD appeared to Solomon a second time, as before, at Gibeon. (3) GOD said to him, “I have heard the prayer and the supplication that you have offered to Me. I consecrate this House that you have built and I set My name there forever. My eyes and My heart shall ever be there.

(178) The One Who answered our father Abraham on Mount Moriah, will answer us. The One Who answered Isaac, his son, when he was bound on the altar, will answer us. The One Who answered Jacob in Bet El, will answer us. The One Who answered Joseph in prison, will answer us. The One Who answered our ancestors at the Reed Sea; will answer us. The One Who answered Moses at Horeb, (See Deuteronomy 9:19—26) will answer us. The One Who answered Aaron with the incense pan, (See Numbers 17:11- 12) will answer us. The One Who answered Pinchas when he rose from among the congregation, (See Numbers 25:6—9) will answer us. The One Who answered Joshua at Gilgal, (See Joshua 7:6; 10—12) will answer us. The One Who answered Samuel in Mizpah, (See I Samuel 7:5—9) will answer us. The One Who answered David, (See II Samuel 21:1) and Solomon, (See I Kings 8:25; 9:3) his son, in Jerusalem, will answer us. The One Who answered Elijah on Mount Carmel, (See I Kings18:36—38) will answer us. The One Who answered Elisha in Jericho, (See II Kings 2:18—22) will answer us. The One Who answered Jonah in the belly of the fish, will answer us. The One Who answered Hezekiah, King of Judah, in his illness (See II Kings 20:2—6), will answer us. The One Who answered Chananyah, Mishael and Azariah in the midst of the fiery furnace, (See Daniel 3:21—27) will answer us. The One Who answered Daniel in the lions' den, (See Daniel 6:17—25) will answer us. The One Who answered Mordechai and Esther in Shushan, the capital [city of Persia], will answer us. The One Who answered Ezra in captivity, (See Ezra 8:21—23:9​​​​​​​) will answer us. The One Who answered all the righteous, the pious, the perfect and the upright, will answer us.

(1) God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and remain there; and build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” (2) So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Rid yourselves of the alien gods in your midst, purify yourselves, and change your clothes. (3) Come, let us go up to Bethel, and I will build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” (4) They gave to Jacob all the alien gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the terebinth that was near Shechem. (5) As they set out, a terror from God fell on the cities round about, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. (6) Thus Jacob came to Luz—that is, Bethel—in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. (7) There he built an altar and named the site El-bethel,*El-bethel “The God of Bethel.” for it was there that God had been revealed to him when he was fleeing from his brother. (8) Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and was buried under the oak below Bethel; so it was named Allon-bacuth.*Allon-bacuth Understood as “the oak of the weeping.” (9) God appeared again to Jacob on his arrival from Paddan-aram. God blessed him, (10) saying to him,
“You whose name is Jacob,
You shall be called Jacob no more,
But Israel shall be your name.” Thus he was named Israel. (11) And God said to him,
“I am El Shaddai.
Be fertile and increase;
A nation, yea an assembly of nations,
Shall descend from you.
Kings shall issue from your loins.
(12) The land that I assigned to Abraham and Isaac
I assign to you;
And to your offspring to come
Will I assign the land.” (13) God parted from him at the spot where [God] had spoken to him; (14) and Jacob set up a pillar at the site where [God] had spoken to him, a pillar of stone, and he offered a libation on it and poured oil upon it. (15) Jacob gave the site, where God had spoken to him, the name of Bethel.

(9) The chief cupbearer then spoke up and said to Pharaoh, “I must make mention today of my offenses. (10) Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and placed me in custody in the house of the prefect, together with the chief baker. (11) We had dreams the same night, he and I, each of us a dream with a meaning of its own. (12) A Hebrew youth was there with us, a servant of the prefect; and when we told him our dreams, he interpreted them for us, telling each of the meaning of his dream. (13) And as he interpreted for us, so it came to pass: I was restored to my post, and the other was impaled.” (14) Thereupon Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was rushed from the dungeon. He had his hair cut and changed his clothes, and he appeared before Pharaoh.

(19) For I was in dread of the fierce anger against you which moved יהוה to wipe you out. And that time, too, יהוה gave heed to me.— (20) Moreover, יהוה was angry enough with Aaron to have destroyed him; so I also interceded for Aaron at that time.— (21) As for that sinful thing you had made, the calf, I took it and put it to the fire; I broke it to bits and ground it thoroughly until it was fine as dust, and I threw its dust into the brook that comes down from the mountain. (22) Again you provoked יהוה at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah. (23) And when יהוה sent you on from Kadesh-barnea, saying, “Go up and take possession of the land that I am giving you,” you flouted the command of your God יהוה —whom you did not put your trust in nor obey. (24) As long as I have known you, you have been defiant toward יהוה. (25) When I lay prostrate before יהוה those forty days and forty nights, because יהוה was determined to destroy you, (26) I prayed to יהוה and said, “O Lord יהוה, do not annihilate Your very own people, whom You redeemed in Your majesty and whom You freed from Egypt with a mighty hand.

(6) Just then a certain Israelite man came and brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, in the sight of Moses and of the whole Israelite community who were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. (7) When Pinchas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly and, taking a spear in his hand, (8) he followed the Israelite man into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the Israelite man and the woman, through the belly. Then the plague against the Israelites was checked. (9) Those who died of the plague numbered twenty-four thousand.

(18) They came back to him while he was still in Jericho; and he said to them, “I told you not to go.” (19) The people of the town [of Jericho] said to Elisha, “Look, the town is a pleasant place to live in, as my lord can see; but the water is bad and the land causes bereavement.” (20) He responded, “Bring me a new dish and put salt in it.” They brought it to him; (21) he went to the spring and threw salt into it. And he said, “Thus said GOD: I heal this water; no longer shall death and bereavement come from it!” (22) The water has remained wholesome to this day, in accordance with the word spoken by Elisha.

(2) Thereupon Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to GOD. He said, (3) “Please, O ETERNAL One, remember how I have walked before You sincerely and wholeheartedly, and have done what is pleasing to You.” And Hezekiah wept profusely. (4) Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of GOD came to him: (5) “Go back and say to Hezekiah, the ruler of My people: Thus said GOD, the God of your forefather David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. I am going to heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the House of GOD. (6) And I will add fifteen years to your life. I will also rescue you and this city from the hands of the king of Assyria. I will protect this city for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.”—

(17) By the king’s order, Daniel was then brought and thrown into the lions’ den. The king spoke to Daniel and said, “Your God, whom you serve so regularly, will deliver you.” (18) A rock was brought and placed over the mouth of the den; the king sealed it with his signet and with the signet of his nobles, so that nothing might be altered concerning Daniel. (19) The king then went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and his sleep fled from him. (20) Then, at the first light of dawn, the king arose and rushed to the lions’ den. (21) As he approached the den, he cried to Daniel in a mournful voice; the king said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, was the God whom you served so regularly able to deliver you from the lions?” (22) Daniel then talked with the king, “O king, live forever! (23) My God sent a Divine angel, who shut the mouths of the lions so that they did not injure me, inasmuch as I was found innocent by God, nor have I, O king, done you any injury.” (24) The king was very glad, and ordered Daniel to be brought up out of the den. Daniel was brought up out of the den, and no injury was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.

(21) I proclaimed a fast there by the Ahava River to afflict ourselves before our God to beseech the Lord for a smooth journey for us and for our children and for all our possessions; (22) for I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us against any enemy on the way, since we had told the king, “The benevolent care of our God is for all who seek the Lord, while the Divine fierce anger is against all who forsake God.” (23) So we fasted and besought our God for this, and the Lord responded to our plea.