And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: {that...: or, as being righteous}

Ye have said, It {is} vain to serve God: and what profit {is it} that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? {ordinance: Heb. observation} {mournfully: Heb. in black}

And {this} shall be a statute for ever unto you: {that} in the seventh month, on the tenth {day} of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, {whether it be} one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:

He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer {shall be} abomination.

Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. {I consulted...: Heb. my heart consulted in me}

For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered {him} with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

And when they had received {it}, they murmured against the goodman of the house,

In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. {full...: Heb. weeks of days}

When I wept, {and chastened} my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.

I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon {every} altar a bullock and a ram.

That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, {being} an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, {to wit}, of a Jew his brother.

And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh {month}, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, {even} to me?

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

And he answering said to {his} father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:

Also on the tenth {day} of this seventh month {there shall be} a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took {him} by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. {pence: the Roman penny is the eighth part of an ounce, which after five shillings the ounce is seven pence halfpenny; about fourteen cents}

It {shall be} a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Ye have said, It {is} vain to serve God: and what profit {is it} that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? {ordinance: Heb. observation} {mournfully: Heb. in black}

For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

And {this} shall be a statute for ever unto you: {that} in the seventh month, on the tenth {day} of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, {whether it be} one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? {is it} to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes {under him}? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? {a day...: or, to afflict his soul for a day?}

And ye shall have on the tenth {day} of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work {therein}:

And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon {every} altar a bullock and a ram.

And this {is} the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth {ought} unto his neighbour shall release {it}; he shall not exact {it} of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD'S release. {creditor: Heb. master of the lending of his hand}

And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. {fetch: Heb. take unto us}

Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. {of the driver: Heb. of the exactor}

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing {was} sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. {humbled: or, afflicted}

And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. {punished: Heb. avenged}

Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet {is} she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

It {shall be} unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth {day} of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath. {celebrate: Heb. rest}

It {shall be} a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.

But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took {him} by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. {pence: the Roman penny is the eighth part of an ounce, which after five shillings the ounce is seven pence halfpenny; about fourteen cents}

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise {the disciples} of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?

And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. {forbearing: or, moderating} {your...: some read, both your and their Master}

For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. {little: or, for a little time}

Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

Masters, give unto {your} servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.