Ezra 7:18 (DBY)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Ezra 7:16 and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, besides the voluntary offering of the people, and of the priests, who offer willingly for the house of their God which is at Jerusalem.

Ezra 7:17 Therefore thou shalt buy diligently with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their oblations and their drink-offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is at Jerusalem.

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

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

Ezra 7:20 And whatever 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 "whatever", "shall", "seem", "good", "thee", "brethren", "rest", and "silver". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "whatever" 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 buy diligently with this..." into verse 19's "And the vessels that have been given...", so "whatever" 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 "whatever" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.