God’s Word Translation
Ezra 8:23
23So we fasted and asked our God for a safe journey, and he answered 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
21Then I announced a fast there at the Ahava River so that we might humble ourselves in the presence of our God to ask him for a safe journey for ourselves, for our little ones, and for all our goods. 22I was ashamed to ask the king for an armed escort with cavalry to help us against an enemy attack on the way. We had already told the king, “Our God works things out for the good of everyone who dedicates his life to serving him, but his power and his anger oppose everyone who abandons him.” So we fasted and asked our God for a safe journey, and he answered our prayer. 24Then I selected 12 leaders from the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and 10 of their relatives. 25I weighed for them the silver, the gold, and the utensils. ⌞These were⌟ the contributions that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all the Israelites had contributed for our God’s temple.
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 9:1When the Israelites assembled on the twenty-fourth day of this month, they fasted, wore sackcloth, and threw dirt on their heads.
- Esther 4:16“Assemble all the Jews in Susa. Fast for me: Do not eat or drink at all for three entire days. My servants and I will also fast. After that, I will go to the king, even if it is against a royal decree. If I die, I die.”
- Daniel 9:3So I turned to the Lord God and looked to him for help. I prayed, pleaded, and fasted in sackcloth and ashes.
- Luke 2:37and she had been a widow for 84 years. Anna never left the temple courtyard but worshiped day and night by fasting and praying.
- Acts 10:30Cornelius answered, “Four days ago I was praying at home. It was at this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, a man dressed in radiant clothes stood in front of me.
- Jeremiah 29:12Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
- Jeremiah 33:3Call to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you great and mysterious things that you do not know.
- Jeremiah 50:4“In those days and at that time,” declares the Lord, “the people of Israel and Judah will cry as they go together to seek the Lord their God.
- Ezra 8:31Then we left the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. God was guiding us, and he rescued us from our enemies and from ambushes along the way.
- Deuteronomy 4:29But if you look for the Lord your God when you are among those nations, you will find him whenever you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- 1 Chronicles 5:20and received help while fighting them. Hagar’s descendants and the nations with them were handed over to Reuben’s descendants. They had called out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayers because they trusted him.
- 2 Chronicles 33:12When he experienced this distress, he begged the Lord his God to be kind and humbled himself in front of the God of his ancestors.
- Psalms 66:18If I had thought about doing anything sinful, the Lord would not have listened ⌞to me⌟.
- Isaiah 19:22The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague. When he strikes them, he will also heal them. Then they will come back to the Lord. And he will respond to their prayers and heal them.
- Matthew 7:7“Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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