Ezra 10:13 (ASV)

Passage

But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

Nearby Context

Ezra 10:11 Now therefore make confession unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.

Ezra 10:12 Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said concerning us, so must we do.

Ezra 10:13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

Ezra 10:14 Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter be despatched.

Ezra 10:15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this [matter]: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "time", "much", "rain", "able", "stand", "without", and "neither". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "people" and "time", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Then all the assembly answered and said..." into verse 14's "Let now our princes be appointed for...", so "people" and "time" belong inside that flow. In Ezra context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "people" and "time" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.