Christian Standard Bible
Ezra 8:23
23So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and he was receptive to our prayer.
Ezra 8:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
- New International Version (NIV)So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
- English Standard Version (ESV)So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.
Context of Ezra 8:23
21I proclaimed a fast by the Ahava River, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us, our dependents, and all our possessions. 22I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his fierce anger is against all who abandon him.” So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and he was receptive to our prayer. 24I selected twelve of the leading priests, along with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers. 25I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles — the contribution for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites who were present had offered.
Read all of Ezra 8Ezra 8:23 word by word
וַנָּצ֛וּמָה וַנְּבַקְשָׁ֥ה מֵאֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ עַל־זֹ֑את וַיֵּעָתֵ֖ר לָֽנוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ezra 8:23
- Nehemiah 9:1On the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads.
- Esther 4:16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.”
- Daniel 9:3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
- Luke 2:37and was a widow for eighty-four years. She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.
- Acts 10:30Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, at three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house. Just then a man in dazzling clothing stood before me
- Jeremiah 29:12You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
- Jeremiah 33:3Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.
- Jeremiah 50:4In those days and at that time — this is the Lord’s declaration — the Israelites and Judeans will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the Lord their God.
- Ezra 8:31We set out from the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. We were strengthened by our God, and he kept us from the grasp of the enemy and from ambush along the way.
- Deuteronomy 4:29But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.
- 1 Chronicles 5:20They received help against these enemies because they cried out to God in battle, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them. He was receptive to their prayer because they trusted in him.
- 2 Chronicles 33:12When he was in distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.
- Psalms 66:18If I had been aware of malice in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- Isaiah 19:22The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing. Then they will turn to the Lord, and he will be receptive to their prayers and heal them.
- Matthew 7:7“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.
Commentaries on Ezra 8:23
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-23Verses 21-23 Ezra procured Levites to go with him; but what will that avail, unless he have God with him? Those who seek God, are safe under the shadow of his wings, even in their greatest dangers; but those who forsake him, are always exposed. When entering upon any new state of life, our care should be, to bring none of the guilt of the sins of our former condition into it. When we are in any peril, let us be at peace with God, and then nothing can do…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23fasted and petitioned: In the Old Testament, people often fasted while praying to show their need before God (1 Kings 21:9; 2 Chronicles 20:3; Nehemiah 1:4; Daniel 9:3).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 21-3621. Then I proclaimed a fast there--The dangers to travelling caravans from the Bedouin Arabs that prowl through the desert were in ancient times as great as they still are; and it seems that travellers usually sought the protection of a military escort. But Ezra had spoken so much to the king of the sufficiency of the divine care of His people that he would have blushed to apply for a guard of soldiers. Therefore he resolved that his followers should, by…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezra 8:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezra 8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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