Now when the children of Israel, who dwelt in Judea, heard thereof, they were sore afraid of him,

And trembling and fear fell upon them, lest he should do to Jerusalem and to the temple of the Lord, as he had done to the other cities and their temples.

And they sent to all Samaria, and every way, as far as Jericho, and they seized upon all the tops of the mountains,

And fortified their villages, and gathered in all their corn for the provision of battle.

And Eliakim the priest wrote to all that dwelt over against Jezreel, which faceth toward the great plain, beside Dothan, and to all them by whom there might be a passage,

That they should seize upon the ascents of the mountains, by which there might be a way to Jerusalem, and should keep the passages, through which it was possible to pass between the mountains.

And the children of Israel did as the priest of the Lord, Eliakim, had appointed them.

And all the people cried to the Lord with great earnestness, and humbled their souls in fasting and prayers, both they and their wives.

And the priests put on sackcloth, and cast up ashes before the temple of the Lord, and covered the altar of the Lord with sackcloth.

And they cried to the Lord God of Israel all with one accord, that he would not suffer their infants to be taken for a prey, and their wives for a spoil, and their cities to be laid waste, and their sanctuaries to be defiled, and themselves to be a reproach among the nations.

And Eliakim, the high priest of the Lord, went about all Israel, and spoke to them, saying,

Be assured that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you persevere in fastings and prayers before the Lord.

Remember Moses, the servant of the Lord, how he overcame Amalek, who trusted in his arrows, and in his power, and in his army, and in his shields, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen, not by fighting with the sword, but by pure prayers did he overcome him.

So shall all the enemies of Israel be, if you persevere in this work which you have begun.

And when he had spoken these words to them, they all supplicated the Lord, and they departed not from before the Lord.

And they who offered burnt offerings to the Lord, were clothed in sackcloth, they offered sacrifices to the Lord, and ashes were upon their heads.

And they all prayed to God with all their hearts, that he would visit the people of Israel.