New King James Version
Ezra 8:23
23So we fasted and entreated our God for this, 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 Living Translation (NLT)So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.
Context of Ezra 8:23
21Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. 22For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer. 24And I separated twelve of the leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them— 25and weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel 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 9:1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.
- Esther 4:16“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
- Daniel 9:3Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
- Luke 2:37and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
- Acts 10:30So Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
- Jeremiah 29:12Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Jeremiah 33:3‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
- Jeremiah 50:4“In those days and in that time,” says the Lord, “The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the Lord their God.
- Ezra 8:31Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road.
- Deuteronomy 4:29But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- 1 Chronicles 5:20And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them, for they cried out to God in the battle. He heeded their prayer, because they put their trust in Him.
- 2 Chronicles 33:12Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
- Psalms 66:18If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
- Isaiah 19:22And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.
- Matthew 7:7“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries