22 So let them perish — all those people who were born only to be lost. But let my chosen people be kept safe — those for whom I worked so hard to bring them to perfection.
23 “And now, Ezra, you must wait seven more days, but do not fast this time.
24 Go to a field of wild flowers where no one has ever lived and eat nothing but the flowers — do not eat any meat or drink any wine.
25 Pray the whole time to God Most High. Then I will come and talk with you again.”
26 I obeyed the angel's command and went to a field called Ardat. I sat there among the flowers and ate the wild plants, and that was enough food for me.
27 After seven days I was lying on the grass, and once again my thoughts began to trouble me.
28 Then I began to speak and said to God Most High,