So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Read full chapter

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.(A) For some days I mourned and fasted(B) and prayed before the God of heaven.

Read full chapter

(A)Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

Read full chapter

So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,(A) and in sackcloth and ashes.(B)

Read full chapter

Longing for Zion in a Foreign Land

137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.

Read full chapter

Psalm 137

By the rivers of Babylon(A) we sat and wept(B)
    when we remembered Zion.(C)

Read full chapter

Confession of Improper Marriages

10 Now (A)while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down (B)before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very (C)bitterly.

Read full chapter

The People’s Confession of Sin

10 While Ezra was praying and confessing,(A) weeping(B) and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly.

Read full chapter

13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.

Read full chapter

13 You will arise(A) and have compassion(B) on Zion,
    for it is time(C) to show favor(D) to her;
    the appointed time(E) has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants;
    her very dust moves them to pity.

Read full chapter

(A)Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
(B)And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.

Read full chapter

for zeal for your house consumes me,(A)
    and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.(B)
10 When I weep and fast,(C)
    I must endure scorn;

Read full chapter

Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”

So I (A)prayed to the God of heaven.

Read full chapter

The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven,

Read full chapter

15 (A)Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

Read full chapter

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.(A)

Read full chapter

18 “I will gather those who (A)sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.

Read full chapter

18 “I will remove from you
    all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals,
    which is a burden and reproach for you.

Read full chapter

18 (A)that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Read full chapter

18 He urged them to plead for mercy(A) from the God of heaven(B) concerning this mystery,(C) so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Read full chapter

So when I heard this thing, (A)I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down (B)astonished.

Read full chapter

When I heard this, I tore(A) my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled.(B)

Read full chapter

11 And thus they returned us an answer, saying: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the [a]temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built (A)and completed. 12 But (B)because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of (C)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and (D)carried the people away to Babylon.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 5:11 Lit. house

11 This is the answer they gave us:

“We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple(A) that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our ancestors angered(B) the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.(C)

Read full chapter

So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear [a]the Lord, the God of heaven, (A)who made the sea and the dry land.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jonah 1:9 Heb. YHWH

He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord,(A) the God of heaven,(B) who made the sea(C) and the dry land.(D)

Read full chapter