¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep fled from him.

¹ And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.

¹ On that night could not the king sleep; and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king.

⁴ Thou holdest mine eyes watching: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

¹⁶ David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

¹⁷ And the elders of his house arose, `and stood' beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

²² And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee;

³ So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey.

⁴ And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

⁵ And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

⁶ And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

⁷ And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;

⁸ but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.

⁹ Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

⁴ that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;

⁵ that sing idle songs to the sound of the viol; that invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;

⁶ that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

⁸ The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

⁹ They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

⁸ I gathered me also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

² Upon the willows in the midst thereof We hanged up our harps.

¹² They sing to the timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

²⁷ And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

²⁴ And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.