11 Every man, woman, and child in Jerusalem went to the temple and bowed low to the ground. They put ashes on their heads and spread out sackcloth in front of the temple
12 and covered the altar with it. Then the men prayed aloud to the Lord their God, asking him not to let their wives and children be captured and taken away or to let their towns be destroyed. They begged him not to give foreigners the pleasure of taking over the temple and polluting the place of worship.
13 The Lord heard their prayers and saw how much they were suffering.For several days, the people of Judea and Jerusalem stayed there at the temple of the Lord All-Powerful and went without eating.
14 Joakim the high priest and the priests who served in the temple wore sackcloth as they offered the daily sacrifices to please the Lord, as well as the sacrifices offered to keep a promise and the offerings voluntarily given to him.
15 They also sprinkled ashes on their turbans and prayed aloud, asking the Lord to have mercy on the entire nation of Israel.