Ezra 9:9 (YLT)

Passage

for servants we <FI>are<Fi> , and in our servitude our God hath not forsaken us, and stretcheth out unto us kindness before the kings of Persia, to give to us a quickening to lift up the house of our God, and to cause its wastes to cease, and to give to us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

Nearby Context

Ezra 9:7 `From the days of our fathers we <FI>are<Fi> in great guilt unto this day, and in our iniquities we have been given--we, our kings, our priests--into the hand of the kings of the lands, with sword, with captivity, and with spoiling, and with shame of face, as <FI>at<Fi> this day.

Ezra 9:8 `And now, as a small moment hath grace been from Jehovah our God, to leave to us an escape, and to give to us a nail in His holy place, by our God's enlightening our eyes, and by giving us a little quickening in our servitude;

Ezra 9:9 for servants we <FI>are<Fi> , and in our servitude our God hath not forsaken us, and stretcheth out unto us kindness before the kings of Persia, to give to us a quickening to lift up the house of our God, and to cause its wastes to cease, and to give to us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

Ezra 9:10 `And now, what do we say, O our God, after this? for we have forsaken Thy commands,

Ezra 9:11 that Thou hast commanded by the hands of thy servants the prophets, saying, The land into which ye are going to possess it, <FI>is<Fi> a land of impurity, by the impurity of the people of the lands, by their abominations with which they have filled it--from mouth unto mouth--by their uncleanness;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "servants", "servitude", "hath", "forsaken", "stretcheth", "kindness", "before", and "kings". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "servants" and "servitude", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And now as a small moment hath..." into verse 10's "And now what do we say O...", so "servants" and "servitude" 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 "servants" and "servitude" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.