Ezra 7:18 (ASV)

Passage

And whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do ye after the will of your God.

Nearby Context

Ezra 7:16 and all the silver and gold that thou shalt find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill-offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem;

Ezra 7:17 therefore thou shalt with all diligence buy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and shalt offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 7:18 And whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do ye after the will of your God.

Ezra 7:19 And the vessels that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.

Ezra 7:20 And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king`s treasure-house.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "whatsoever", "shall", "seem", "good", "thee", "brethren", "rest", and "silver". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "whatsoever" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "therefore thou shalt with all diligence buy..." into verse 19's "And the vessels that are given thee...", so "whatsoever" and "shall" 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 "whatsoever" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.