The Israelites forgot their true God and followed false gods. Samuel said to them: “If you wish with your whole heart to return to the Lord, put away your foreign gods and your Ashtaroth, devote yourselves to the Lord, and worship Him alone.Then he will deliver you from the power of the Philistines. So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtaroth, and worshiped the Lord alone. Samuel then gave orders, ‘Gather all Israel to Mizpah, that I may pray to the Lord for you.’

When they were gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out on the ground before the Lord and they fasted that day, confessing, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’ 

(1 Sm 7,3-6)

“Have you found me out, my enemy?” Ashab said to Elijah. ‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the Lord’s sight, I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you and will cut off every male in Ahab’s life, whether slave or freeman, in Israel. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebar, and like that of Baascha, son of Ahijah, because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin.’ (Against Jezebel, too, the Lord declared, ‘The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.’) ‘When one of Ahab’s line dies, in the city, dogs will devour him; when one of them dies in the field, the birds of the sky will devour him.’ Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil in the sight of the Lord as did Ahab, urged on by his wife Jezebel. He became completely abominable by following idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth, and went about subdued. Then the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, ‘Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son.’”

(1 Kgs 21,20-29)

“I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. I prayed to the Lord, my God and confessed, ‘Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments! We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.’”

(Dn 9,3-5).

Photo by Sarmite Bogdanoviča