He issued a proclamation and said, ¹  “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water.

Then ¹  the fifth angel ²  poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that ³  darkness covered his kingdom, ⁴  and people ⁵  began to bite ⁶  their tongues because ⁷  of their pain.

Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you.

On the fourth day they woke up early and the Levite got ready to leave. ¹  But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy, ²  then you can go.”

And I said, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat ¹  has never entered my mouth.”

Now the day began to draw to a close, ¹  so ²  the twelve came and said to Jesus, ³  “Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging ⁴  and food, because we are in an isolated place.” ⁵