Ezra 10:13 (WEB)

Passage

But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside. This is not a work of one day or two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

Nearby Context

Ezra 10:11 Now therefore make confession to Yahweh, 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 with a loud voice, “As you have 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 outside. This is not a work of one day or two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

Ezra 10:14 Now let our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God is turned from us, until this matter is resolved.”

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "people", "time", "much", "rain", "able", "stand", "outside", and "greatly". 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 with a..." into verse 14's "Now let 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.