17 Don't you know that the people of Israel in the land of their exile have been put in your care?
18 So get up and eat. Do not abandon us like a shepherd leaving his flock to the attacks of savage wolves.”
19 “Leave me alone,” I answered. “Do not come near me for the next seven days. Then come back.” So he left.
20 Then, crying and mourning, I fasted for seven days, as the angel Uriel had commanded me to do.
21 At the end of the seven days, I was again deeply troubled,
22 but I recovered my ability to think, and again I began to speak with God Most High.
23 “Lord and Master,” I said, “from all the forests and the plants on earth you have chosen this one vine.