So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.
Parallel translations
- WEB So we fasted and begged our God for this: and he granted our request.
- KJV So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
- NKJV So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.
- NASB So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our pleading.
- NLT So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.
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
They fasted and prayed for safety, and God granted their request. God answers the humble, believing prayers of His people.
Overview
After fasting and entreating God for a safe journey, Ezra records simply that 'he granted our request.' The brief statement testifies to God's faithfulness in responding to earnest, dependent prayer. It encourages believers that God hears and acts when His people humble themselves and call on Him (James 4:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Jer 29:12–13Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Matt 7:7–8Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- 2 Chr 33:12–13And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.
- 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.
- Deut 4:29But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- 1 Chr 5:20And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.
- Esth 4:16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”
- Isa 19:22And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.
- Dan 9:3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
- Neh 9:1On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.
- Ps 66:18–20If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- Luke 2:37and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
- 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.
- Jer 33:3Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
- 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
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 8:23 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.