While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and falling facedown before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites—men, women, and children—gathered around him, and the people wept bitterly as well.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before God’s house, there was gathered together to him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very bitterly.
- KJV Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.
- NKJV Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly.
- NASB Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women, and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept greatly.
- NLT While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
As Ezra prayed and wept in confession, a great crowd of men, women, and children gathered and wept bitterly with him. His grief over sin moved the whole community to repentance.
Overview
Ezra's heartfelt, public confession before the temple stirred a large assembly to share his sorrow over their unfaithfulness. Genuine repentance spread from a leader who took sin seriously to the people who followed. This scene illustrates how godly grief can awaken a community to repentance, the kind of sorrow that, in the gospel, leads to salvation and not regret (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Dan 9:20While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain—
- Ps 119:136My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
- Rom 9:2I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
- 1 Jn 1:8–10If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- 1 Kgs 8:30Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.
- Neh 8:9Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.
- Luke 19:41As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
- Dan 9:3–4So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
- Zech 12:10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
- 1 Kgs 9:3And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
- 2 Chr 20:9‘If disaster comes upon us—whether sword or judgment, plague or famine—we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your Name is in this temple. We will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us.’
- Ps 32:5Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
- Jer 9:1Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Hos 14:2Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.
- Jer 13:17But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
- Neh 10:28“The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the people of the land to obey the Law of God—along with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand,
- Joel 2:16–18Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
- Lev 26:40–41But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me—
- Judg 2:4–5When the angel of the LORD had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept.
- 2 Chr 20:13Meanwhile all the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, were standing before the LORD.
- Acts 21:5But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to pray with us.
- Acts 10:30Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this, the ninth hour. Suddenly a man in radiant clothing stood before me
- Deut 31:12Assemble the people—men, women, children, and the foreigners within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and to follow carefully all the words of this law.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The return from exile and the rebuilt altar keep alive the hope of a greater restoration — the true return from our deeper exile of sin accomplished by Christ.
How Ezra 10:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.