And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself therewith; and he sat among the ashes.
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh (month), even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen of men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward.
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;
that thou be not seen of men to fast, but of thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall recompense thee.