Ezra 9:8 (DRB)

Passage

And now as a little, and for a moment has our prayer been made before the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant, and give us a pin in his holy place, and that our God would enlighten our eyes, and would give us a little life in our bondage.

Nearby Context

Ezra 9:6 And said: My God I am confounded and ashamed to lift up my face to thee: for our iniquities are multiplied over our heads, and our sins are grown up even unto heaven,

Ezra 9:7 From the days of our fathers: and we ourselves also have sinned grievously unto this day, and for our iniquities we and our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands, and to the sword, and to captivity, and to spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is at this day.

Ezra 9:8 And now as a little, and for a moment has our prayer been made before the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant, and give us a pin in his holy place, and that our God would enlighten our eyes, and would give us a little life in our bondage.

Ezra 9:9 For we are bondmen, and in our bondage our God hath not forsaken us, but hath extended mercy upon us before the king of the Persians, to give us life, and to set up the house of our God, and to rebuild the desolations thereof, and to give us a fence in Juda and Jerusalem.

Ezra 9:10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "little", "moment", "prayer", "been", "before", "lord", and "leave". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "little", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "From the days of our fathers and..." into verse 9's "For we are bondmen and in our...", so "light" and "little" 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 "light" and "little" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.