But in the seventh month ¹  Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama who was a member of the royal family and had been one of Zedekiah’s chief officers, came with ten of his men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together with him there at Mizpah,

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, “Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.”

So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; ¹  he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. ² 

His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While ¹  the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!”

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. ¹  Then all humankind ²  will recognize that I am the Lord, your deliverer, your protector, ³  the powerful ruler of Jacob.” ⁴ 

Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in ¹  building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. ²  He did what was just and right. ³  So things went well with him.

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.

You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.’” ¹ 

All your allies ¹  will force ²  you from your homeland! ³  Your treaty partners ⁴  will deceive you and overpower you. Your trusted friends ⁵  will set an ambush ⁶  for ⁷  you that will take you by surprise! ⁸ 

Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. ¹  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ²  and tear off their hooves.

On that very day ¹  it must be eaten; you must not leave any part of it ²  over until morning. I am the Lord.

And on the fifteenth day of this month is the festival. For seven days bread made without yeast must be eaten.

So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet and had a meal. ¹ 

Do not spend time ¹  among drunkards, ²  among those who eat too much ³  meat,

We have submitted ¹  to Egypt and Assyria in order to buy food to eat. ² 

You will be driven ¹  from human society, ²  and you will live ³  with the wild animals. You will be fed ⁴  grass like oxen, ⁵  and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before ⁶  you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

He ¹  answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me ²  will betray me.

He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips his hand ¹  with me into the bowl. ² 

For ¹  three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything. ² 

If I partake with thankfulness, why am I blamed for the food ¹  that I give thanks for?