“‘ On the tenth day of the seventh month, come together for a special service. You must not eat anything on that day. You must not do any work on it.

“七月初十日，你们当有圣会；要刻苦己心，什么工都不可做。

“七月初十，你们当有圣会；要刻苦己心，任何工都不可做。

“七月初十，你们当有圣会；要刻苦己心，任何工都不可做。

“七月十日，你们要举行圣会，禁食，不可工作。

“‘在七月十日，你们要有圣会，刻苦己心，什么都不可作，

「七月初十日，你們當有聖會；要刻苦己心，甚麼工都不可做。

「七月初十，你們當有聖會；要刻苦己心，任何工都不可做。

「七月初十，你們當有聖會；要刻苦己心，任何工都不可做。

「七月十日，你們要舉行聖會，禁食，不可工作。

“‘在七月十日，你們要有聖會，刻苦己心，甚麼都不可作，

『在這七月十日、你們要有聖聚會，要刻苦自己；甚麼工都不可作，

七月十日、必有聖會、當苦其心、勿操作、

七月十日、必有聖會、咸止工作、卑以自牧、

七月十日、爾當有聖會、必刻苦齋戒、無論何工、悉毋作、

“‘ On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work.

“ On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation and afflict yourselves. You shall do no work,

“ Ten days later, on the tenth day of the same month, you must call another holy assembly. On that day, the Day of Atonement, the people must go without food and must do no ordinary work.

“ You are to hold a sacred assembly on the tenth day of this seventh month and practice self-denial; do not do any work.

‘ Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy assembly, and you shall humble yourselves; you shall not do any work.

‘ On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls; you shall not do any work.

And on the tenth day of this seventh month ye shall have a holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall do no manner of work;

“ You are to hold a sacred assembly on the tenth day of this seventh month and practice self-denial; you must not do any work.

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]:

“‘ On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You must humble yourselves; you must not do any work on it.

“‘ On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls. You shall do no kind of work;

But when they were sick, I put on the clothing of sadness. I made myself humble by going without food. My prayers for them weren’t always answered.

“ Here is a law for you that will last for all time to come. On the tenth day of the seventh month you must not eat anything. You must not do any work. It does not matter whether you are Israelites or outsiders.On that day your sin will be paid for. You will be made pure and clean. You will be clean from all your sins in my sight.That day is a sabbath for you. You must rest on it. You must not eat anything on that day. This is a law that will last for all time to come.

A lot of time had passed. Sailing had already become dangerous. By now it was after the Day of Atonement, a day of fasting. So Paul gave them a warning.

By the canal that flows toward Ahava, I announced a fast. I told the people not to eat any food. In that way, we made ourselves humble in God’s sight. We prayed that he would give us and our children a safe journey. We asked him to keep safe everything we owned.

I tell you, no! But unless you turn away from your sins, you will all die too.”

‘ We have gone without food,’ they say.‘ Why haven’t you noticed it? We have made ourselves suffer. Why haven’t you paid any attention to us?’“ On the day when you fast, you do as you please. You take advantage of all your workers.When you fast, it ends in arguing and fighting. You hit one another with your fists. That is an evil thing to do. The way you are now fasting keeps your prayers from being heard in heaven.Do you think that is the way I want you to fast? Is it only a time for people to make themselves suffer? Is it only for people to bow their heads like tall grass bent by the wind? Is it only for people to lie down in ashes and clothes of mourning? Is that what you call a fast? Do you think I can accept that?

We know that what we used to be was nailed to the cross with him. That happened so our bodies that were ruled by sin would lose their power. So we are no longer slaves of sin.

The Lord spoke to Moses. He said,“ The tenth day of the seventh month is the day when sin is paid for. Come together for a special service. Do not eat any food. Bring a food offering to the Lord.Do not do any work on that day. It is the day when sin is paid for. On that day your sin will be paid for in my sight. I am the Lord your God.Suppose you do eat food on that day. Then you will be separated from your people.I will destroy anyone among your people who does any work on that day.You must not do any work at all. This is a law that will last for all time to come. It applies no matter where you live.That day is a day of sabbath rest for you. You must rest on it. You must not eat anything on that day. You must follow the rules of the sabbath rest. Follow them from the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening.”

The Lord who rules over all called out to you at that time. The Lord told you to weep and cry. He told you to tear your hair out. And he told you to put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad.

No, I train my body and bring it under control. Then after I have preached to others, I myself will not break the rules. If I did break them, I would fail to win the prize.

I tell you, no! But unless you turn away from your sins, you will all die too.

“ I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on David’s family line. I will also send it on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look to me. I am the one they have pierced. They will mourn over me as someone mourns over an only child who has died. They will be full of sorrow over me. Their sorrow will be just like someone’s sorrow over an oldest son.

Those who cry as they plant their crops will sing with joy when they gather them in.Those who go out weeping as they carry seeds to plant will come back singing with joy. They will bring the new crop back with them.

Now I am happy. I’m not happy because you were made sad. I’m happy because your sadness led you to turn away from your sins. You became sad just as God wanted you to. So you were not hurt in any way by us.Godly sadness causes us to turn away from our sins and be saved. And we are certainly not sorry about that! But worldly sadness brings death.Look at what that godly sadness has produced in you. You are working hard to clear yourselves. You are angry and alarmed. You are longing to see me. You are concerned. You are ready to make sure that the right thing is done. In every way you have proved that you are not guilty in that matter.

Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Make your hearts pure, you who can’t make up your minds.Be full of sorrow. Cry and weep. Change your laughter to mourning. Change your joy to sadness.Be humble in front of the Lord. And he will lift you up.

They went to the prophets and priests at the Lord’ s temple. They asked them,“ Should we mourn and go without eating in the fifth month? That’s what we’ve done for many years.”

Blessed are those who are sad. They will be comforted.