Ezra 8:21

Ezra proclaims a fast at the Ahava River to humble themselves and seek God's safe guidance. Before a dangerous journey, the people turn first to God in prayer.

Cross-references · 29

• 2 Chr 20:3Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
• Joel 1:14Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
• 1 Sam 7:6When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.
• Isa 30:21And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
• Jonah 3:5And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
• Lev 16:29This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you—
• Lev 23:29If anyone does not humble himself on this day, he must be cut off from his people.
• Ps 107:2–8Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy
• Ps 143:8–10Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.
• Isa 42:16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
• Ps 5:8Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight Your way before me.
• Joel 2:12–18“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
• Prov 3:6in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
• Isa 58:3“Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.
• Mark 10:13–16Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
• Ezra 8:15Now I assembled these exiles at the canal that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And when I searched among the people and priests, I found no Levites there.
• Jer 10:23I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
• Isa 49:10They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
• Acts 2:39This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
• Jer 31:8–9Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!
• Jer 50:4–5“In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God.
• Judg 20:26Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.
• Isa 58:5Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?
• Lev 16:31It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.
• Ps 8:2From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise on account of Your adversaries, to silence the enemy and avenger.
• Ezra 8:31On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands of the enemies and bandits along the way.
• Num 14:3Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
• Num 14:31But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.
• Isa 35:8And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.

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.