Bible Strands
Ezra 8:23
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Ezra addresses his companions during the return journey to Jerusalem, immediately after declaring reliance on divine protection over royal military escort and just before appointing twelve leading priests for the journey.
The words — צוּם (Tzu.m) = fasted; בָּקַשׁ (Ba.kash) = petitioned; עָתַר (a.Tar) = was entreated/granted. The text records the group fasting and petitioning God concerning their perilous journey, noting that God granted their request.
The thread — This pattern of fasting and petition meeting divine response aligns with the promise in Jeremiah 29:12 that God will listen to those who call on Him, and echoes the principle in Matthew 7:7 that asking and seeking yields results.
Why it lands — It demands a reader to recognize that dependence on God through fasting and petition precedes divine intervention, requiring active spiritual posture before expecting outcomes.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 29:12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- 2 Chronicles 33:12 And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.
- Ezra 8:31 On 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.
- Deuteronomy 4:29 But 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 Chronicles 5:20 And 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.
- Esther 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!”
- Isaiah 19:22 And 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.
- Daniel 9:3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
- Nehemiah 9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.