I called for a fast there by the Ahava Canal, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek from him a safe journey ¹  for us, our children, and all our property.

Let our leaders take steps ¹  on behalf of all the assembly. Let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, and with them the elders of each town and its judges, until the hot anger of our God is turned away from us in this matter.”