21. Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a straight and right way for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.
22. For I was ashamed to request of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy along the way, because we had told the king, The hand of our God is upon all them for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.
23. So we fasted and besought our God for this, and He heard our entreaty.
24. Then I set apart twelve leading priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen,
25. And weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God which the king, his counselors, his lords, and all Israel there present had offered.