Ezra 10:6 (LSB)

Passage

Then Ezra arose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. He went there, but he did not eat bread nor drink water, for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

Nearby Context

Ezra 10:4 Arise! For this matter is your responsibility, but we will be with you; be strong and act.”

Ezra 10:5 Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests, the Levites and all Israel, swear an oath that they would do according to this word; so they swore an oath.

Ezra 10:6 Then Ezra arose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. He went there, but he did not eat bread nor drink water, for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

Ezra 10:7 And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they should gather at Jerusalem,

Ezra 10:8 and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the prince and the elders, all his possessions should be devoted to destruction and he himself separated from the assembly of the exiles.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "ezra", "arose", "before", "house", "went", "chamber", and "jehohanan". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "ezra", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "Then Ezra arose and made the leading..." into verse 7's "And they made a proclamation throughout Judah...", so "faith" and "ezra" 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 "faith" and "ezra" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.