Ezra 8:21

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

I called for a fast there by the Ahava Canal, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek from him a safe journey for us, our children, and all our property.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • 2 Chr 20:3 : 3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he decided to seek the LORD’s advice. He decreed that all Judah should observe a fast.
  • Lev 16:29 : 29 Review of the Day of Atonement“This is to be a perpetual statute for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work of any kind, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner who lives in your midst,
  • Lev 23:29 : 29 Indeed, any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people.
  • 1 Sam 7:6 : 6 After they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. They fasted on that day, and they confessed there,“We have sinned against the LORD.”So Samuel led the people of Israel at Mizpah.
  • Joel 1:14 : 14 Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
  • Ezra 8:15 : 15 The Exiles Travel to Jerusalem I had them assemble at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there.
  • Ps 5:8 : 8 LORD, lead me in your righteousness because of those who wait to ambush me, remove the obstacles in the way in which you are guiding me!
  • Ps 8:2 : 2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy.
  • Ps 107:2-8 : 2 Let those delivered by the LORD speak out, those whom he delivered from the power of the enemy, 3 and gathered from foreign lands, from east and west, from north and south. 4 They wandered through the wilderness, in a wasteland; they found no road to a city in which to live. 5 They were hungry and thirsty; they fainted from exhaustion. 6 They cried out to the LORD in their distress; he delivered them from their troubles. 7 He led them on a level road, that they might find a city in which to live. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his loyal love, and for the amazing things he has done for people!
  • Ps 143:8-9 : 8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, for I trust in you. Show me the way I should go, because I long for you. 9 Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD! I run to you for protection. 10 Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God. May your kind presence lead me into a level land.
  • Prov 3:6 : 6 Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.
  • Isa 30:21 : 21 You will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,“This is the correct way, walk in it,” whether you are heading to the right or the left.
  • Isa 35:8 : 8 A thoroughfare will be there– it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it; it is reserved for those authorized to use it– fools will not stray into it.
  • Isa 42:16 : 16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. I will turn the darkness in front of them into light, and level out the rough ground. This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them.
  • Isa 49:10 : 10 They will not be hungry or thirsty; the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, for one who has compassion on them will guide them; he will lead them to springs of water.
  • Isa 58:3 : 3 They lament,‘Why don’t you notice when we fast? Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’ Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, you oppress your workers.
  • Isa 58:5 : 5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the LORD?
  • Jer 10:23 : 23 LORD, we know that people do not control their own destiny. It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them.
  • Jer 31:8-9 : 8 Then I will reply,‘I will bring them back from the land of the north. I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth. Blind and lame people will come with them, so will pregnant women and women about to give birth. A vast throng of people will come back here. 9 They will come back shedding tears of contrition. I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. I will lead them besides streams of water, along smooth paths where they will never stumble. I will do this because I am Israel’s father; Ephraim is my firstborn son.’”
  • Jer 50:4-5 : 4 “When that time comes,” says the LORD,“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together. They will come back with tears of repentance as they seek the LORD their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion; they will turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
  • Ezra 8:31 : 31 On the twelfth day of the first month we began traveling from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from our enemy and from bandits along the way.
  • Lev 16:31 : 31 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. It is a perpetual statute.
  • Num 14:3 : 3 Why has the LORD brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”
  • Num 14:31 : 31 But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, and they will enjoy the land that you have despised.
  • Judg 20:26 : 26 So all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel. They wept and sat there before the LORD; they did not eat anything that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace to the LORD.
  • Joel 2:12-18 : 12 An Appeal for Repentance“Yet even now,” the LORD says,“return to me with all your heart– with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Tear your hearts, not just your garments!” Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love– often relenting from calamitous punishment. 14 Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, and leave blessing in his wake– a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the LORD your God! 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion. Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly! 16 Gather the people; sanctify an assembly! Gather the elders; gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom and the bride from her private quarters. 17 Let the priests, those who serve the LORD, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. Let them say,“Have pity, O LORD, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples,“Where is their God?” 18 The LORD’s Response Then the LORD became zealous for his land; he had compassion on his people.
  • Jonah 3:5 : 5 The people of Nineveh believed in God, and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
  • Acts 2:39 : 39 For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
  • Mark 10:13-16 : 13 Jesus and Little Children Now people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, but the disciples scolded those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them,“Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Ezra 8:22-25
    4 verses
    83%

    22I was embarrassed to request soldiers and horsemen from the king to protect us from the enemy along the way, because we had said to the king,“The good hand of our God is on everyone who is seeking him, but his great anger is against everyone who forsakes him.”

    23So we fasted and prayed to our God about this, and he answered us.

    24Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,

    25and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels intended for the temple of our God– items that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present had contributed.

  • Ezra 8:30-32
    3 verses
    79%

    30Then the priests and the Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.

    31On the twelfth day of the first month we began traveling from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from our enemy and from bandits along the way.

    32So we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there for three days.

  • Neh 1:3-6
    4 verses
    78%

    3They said to me,“The remnant that remains from the exile there in the province are experiencing considerable adversity and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem lies breached, and its gates have been burned down!”

    4When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

    5Then I said,“Please, O LORD God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant with those who love him and obey his commandments,

    6may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed against you– both I myself and my family have sinned.

  • Dan 9:3
    74%

    3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

  • Ezra 8:15
    74%

    15The Exiles Travel to Jerusalem I had them assemble at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there.

  • Neh 9:1
    72%

    1The People Acknowledge Their Sin before God On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust.

  • Ezra 9:9-10
    2 verses
    72%

    9Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us to restore the temple of our God and to raise up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

    10“And now what are we able to say after this, our God? For we have forsaken your commandments

  • Ezra 6:8
    71%

    8“I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work.

  • Ezra 8:36
    71%

    36Then they presented the decrees of the king to the king’s satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who gave help to the people and to the temple of God.

  • Ezra 7:21
    71%

    21“I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of Trans-Euphrates, that you precisely execute all that Ezra the priestly scribe of the law of the God of heaven may request of you–

  • Ezra 10:1
    71%

    1The People Confess Their Sins While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites– men, women, and children alike– gathered around him. The people wept loudly.

  • Ezra 9:5-6
    2 verses
    71%

    5At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the LORD my God.

    6I prayed,“O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens.

  • Esth 4:3
    71%

    3Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced there was considerable mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic of many.

  • Dan 9:13
    70%

    13Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom from your reliable moral standards.

  • Neh 2:7-8
    2 verses
    70%

    7I said to the king,“If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah,

    8and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve, so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests, for the good hand of my God was on me.

  • 2 Chr 29:10
    70%

    10Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, so that he may relent from his raging anger.

  • Ezra 10:6
    70%

    6Then Ezra got up from in front of the temple of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he stayed there, he did not eat food or drink water, for he was in mourning over the infidelity of the exiles.

  • Ezra 7:28
    70%

    28He has also conferred his favor on me before the king, his advisers, and all the influential leaders of the king. I gained strength as the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

  • Neh 4:9
    70%

    9So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard to protect against them both day and night.

  • Neh 2:4
    70%

    4The king responded,“What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven

  • Neh 2:17-18
    2 verses
    69%

    17Then I said to them,“You see the problem that we have: Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned. Come on! Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that this reproach will not continue.”

    18Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what the king had said to me. Then they replied,“Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” So they readied themselves for this good project.

  • Ezra 10:8-9
    2 verses
    69%

    8Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

    9All the men of Judah and Benjamin were gathered in Jerusalem within the three days.(It was in the ninth month, on the twentieth day of that month.) All the people sat in the square at the temple of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the rains.

  • Ezra 9:13
    69%

    13“Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this.

  • Ezra 5:8
    69%

    8Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.

  • Ezra 8:17
    69%

    17I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his relatives, who were the temple servants in Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.

  • Esth 4:16
    69%

    16“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. If I perish, I perish!”

  • Neh 8:16
    69%

    16So the people went out and brought these things back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate.

  • Neh 1:11
    69%

    11Please, Lord, listen attentively to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me in the presence of this man.” Now I was cupbearer for the king.

  • Neh 9:32
    69%

    32“So now, our God– the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity– do not regard as inconsequential all the hardship that has befallen us– our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people– from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day!

  • Neh 5:7-8
    2 verses
    69%

    7I considered these things carefully and then registered a complaint with the wealthy and the officials. I said to them,“Each one of you is seizing the collateral from your own countrymen!” Because of them I called for a great public assembly.

    8I said to them,“To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

  • Esth 9:31
    69%

    31to establish these days of Purim in their proper times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established, and just as they had established both for themselves and their descendants, matters pertaining to fasting and lamentation.

  • Neh 8:1
    69%

    1The People Respond to the Reading of the Law When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites were settled in their cities, all the people gathered together in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had commanded Israel.

  • Neh 5:19
    69%

    19Please remember me for good, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.

  • Esth 8:11
    69%

    11The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves– to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children, and to confiscate their property.

  • Neh 5:14
    69%

    14From the day that I was appointed governor in the land of Judah, that is, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes– twelve years in all– neither I nor my relatives ate the food allotted to the governor.