Ezra 9:8

Green's Literal Translation

And now, for a little time grace has been shown from Jehovah our God to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, so that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the Lord our God to preserve a remnant for us and give us a stake in his holy place. Even in our slavery, God has given us a little relief and light to our eyes.

Hebrew Names Version
Now for a little moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

King James Version
And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

English Standard Version
But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery.

New Century Version
"But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been kind to us. He has let some of us come back from captivity and has let us live in safety in his holy place. And so our God gives us hope and a little relief from our slavery.

New English Translation
"But now briefly we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude.

Amplified Bible
"But now for a brief moment grace has been [shown to us] from the LORD our God, who has left us a surviving remnant and has given us a peg (secure hold) in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

New American Standard Bible
"But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, so that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

World English Bible
Now for a little moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And now for a litle space grace hath bene shewed from the Lord our God, in causing a remnant to escape, & in giuing vs a nayle in his holy place, that our God may light our eyes, & giue vs a litle reuiuing in our seruitude.

Legacy Standard Bible
But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our slavery.

Berean Standard Bible
But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the LORD our God to preserve for us a remnant and to give us a stake in His holy place. Even in our bondage, our God has given us new life and light to our eyes.

Contemporary English Version
But for now, Lord God, you have shown great kindness to us. You made us truly happy by letting some of us settle in this sacred place and by helping us in our time of slavery.

Complete Jewish Bible
Now, for a brief moment, Adonai our God has shown us the favor of allowing a remnant to escape and giving us a secure foothold in his holy place, in order for God to make things look brighter to us and revive us a little in our slavery.

Darby Translation
And now for a little space there hath been favour from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

Easy-to-Read Version
"But now, finally, you have been kind to us. You have let a few of us escape captivity and come to live in this holy place. Lord , you gave us new life and relief from our slavery.

George Lamsa Translation
And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a place in his holy land, that our God may lighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

Good News Translation
Now for a short time, O Lord our God, you have been gracious to us and have let some of us escape from slavery and live in safety in this holy place. You have let us escape from slavery and have given us new life.

Lexham English Bible
But now for a brief moment mercy has been shown by Yahweh our God, who left behind for us a remnant, and given us security in his holy place—for our God to brighten our eyes and to give us brief relief in our bondage.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But now is there a litle and sodane graciousnes come from the LORDE oure God, so that some of vs are escaped, that he maie geue vs a nayle in his holy place, that oure God maye lighte oure eyes, and geue vs a litle lyfe in oure bondage.

American Standard Version
And now for a little moment grace hath been showed from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

Bible in Basic English
And now for a little time grace has come to us from the Lord our God, to let a small band of us get free and to give us a nail in his holy place, so that our God may give light to our eyes and a measure of new life in our prison chains.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And nowe for a litle space grace hath ben shewed from the Lorde our God, in causing a remnaunt to escape, and in geuing vs a nayle in his holy place, that our God may light our eyes, and geue vs a litle lyfe to take breath in our bondage:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And now for a little moment grace hath been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

King James Version (1611)
And now for a litle space grace hath bene shewed from the Lord our God, to leaue vs a remnant to escape, and to giue vs a naile in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and giue vs a litle reuiuing in our bondage:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And now our God has dealt mercifully with us, so as to leave us to escape, and to give us an establishment in the place of his sanctuary, to enlighten our eyes, and to give a little quickening in our servitude.

English Revised Version
And now for a little moment grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And now as at a litil and at a moment oure preier is maad anentis `oure Lord God, that relikis schulden be left to vs, and that `his pees schulde be youun in his hooli place, and that oure God schulde liytne oure iyen, and yyue to vs a litil lijf in oure seruage.

Update Bible Version
And now for a little moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our slavery.

Webster's Bible Translation
And now for a little space grace hath been [shown] from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

New King James Version
And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.

New Living Translation
"But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the Lord our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery.

New Life Bible
But now for a short time loving-favor has been shown to us from the Lord our God. He has kept some of us alive to return to get a hold on His holy place, that our God may give light to our eyes, and give us some new life while we are under the power of Persia.

New Revised Standard
But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, who has left us a remnant, and given us a stake in his holy place, in order that he may brighten our eyes and grant us a little sustenance in our slavery.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, now, for a very little moment, hath come favour from Yahweh our God, in leaving to us a remnant to escape, and in giving to us a nail in his holy place, - that our God may enlighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant, and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

Young's Literal Translation
`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;

THE MESSAGE
"Now for a brief time God , our God, has allowed us, this battered band, to get a firm foothold in his holy place so that our God may brighten our eyes and lighten our burdens as we serve out this hard sentence. We were slaves; yet even as slaves, our God didn't abandon us. He has put us in the good graces of the kings of Persia and given us the heart to build The Temple of our God, restore its ruins, and construct a defensive wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

Contextual Overview

⁵ And at the evening offering I rose up from my fasting, and with my garment and my robe torn, I even fell on my knees and spread out my hands to Jehovah my God. ⁶ And I said, O my God, I am ashamed and wounded to lift up my face to You, O my God. For our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown to the heavens. ⁷ Since the days of our fathers we have been in great guilt until this day. And for our iniquities we, our kings, our priests, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, tothe sword, to captivity, and to plunder, andto shame of faces to this day. ⁸ And now, for a little time grace has been shown from Jehovah our God to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, so that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage. ⁹ For we were slaves, yet our God has not left us in our bondage, but has given mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to raise up the house of our God, and tomake stand its ruins, and to give to us awall in Judah and in Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments ¹¹ which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, The land into which you go, to possess it, it is an unclean land with the impurity of the people of the lands, with their abominations it, from mouth to mouth with their uncleanness. ¹² And now do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters to your sons, or seek their peace, or their wealth forever, so that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance toyour sons forever. ¹³ And after all that has come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, since You our God have held back the rod on our iniquities, and have given us such an escape as this, ¹⁴ shall we again turn back to break Your commandments and intermarry with the people of these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had finished us , until there is no remnant or escapee?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

little space: Heb. moment

grace hath: Ezra 9:9, Nehemiah 1:11, Nehemiah 9:31, Habakkuk 3:2

a remnant: Ezra 9:14, 2 Kings 19:4, 2 Kings 19:30, 2 Kings 19:31, Isaiah 1:9, Jeremiah 42:2, Jeremiah 44:14, Ezekiel 6:8, Ezekiel 6:9, Ezekiel 14:22, Zechariah 8:6, Zechariah 8:12, Romans 9:27, Romans 11:5, Romans 11:6

a nail: or a pin, i.e. a constant and sure abode, Ecclesiastes 12:11, Isaiah 22:23-25, Zechariah 10:4

in his holy place: Isaiah 56:5, Revelation 3:12

lighten: 1 Samuel 14:27, 1 Samuel 14:29, Job 33:30, Psalms 13:3, Psalms 34:5

reviving: Psalms 85:6, Psalms 138:7, Isaiah 57:15, Ezekiel 37:11-14, Hosea 6:2

Reciprocal: Exodus 27:19 - all the pins thereof Exodus 38:20 - the pins Ezra 2:64 - forty Nehemiah 1:2 - that had escaped Proverbs 15:30 - light Isaiah 14:3 - General Lamentations 3:22 - of Micah 7:19 - turn

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And now, for a little space, grace hath been showed from the Lord our God,.... It was but a small time since the Lord first began to show favour to them, so that they soon after began to revolt from him; which argued the strange propensity of their minds to that which is evil, and from which they could not be restrained by the recent goodness of God unto them:

to leave us a remnant to escape; out of captivity, from whence a small number were graciously and safely returned to their own land:

and to give us a nail in his holy place; a fixed settlement in the land of Judea, the holy land the Lord had chosen, and in the temple, the holy place sacred to his worship; or a prince of their own, Zerubbabel, to be the governor of them, under whom they might enjoy settled happiness and prosperity, see Isaiah 22:23,

that our God may lighten our eyes; refresh our spirits, cheer our souls, and give us light and gladness, see 1 Samuel 14:27

and give us a little reviving in our bondage; for they were still in some degree of bondage, being in subjection, and tributaries to the kings of Persia; but yet being returned to their own land, it was as life from the dead unto them, at least it was giving them a little life, liberty, and joy.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The “little space” was above 60 years, counting from the second year of Darius Ezra 4:24, or about 80 years, counting from the first year of Cyrus Ezra 1:1. This does not seem to Ezra much in the “lifetime” of a nation.

A remnant to escape - Rather, “a remnant that has escaped.” The “remnant” is the new community that has returned from the captivity.

A nail - Compare the marginal note and reference. The metaphor is probably drawn from a tent-pin, which is driven into the earth to make the tent firm and secure.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezra 9:8. And now for a little space — This interval in which they were returning from servitude to their own land.

Grace hath been showed] God has disposed the hearts of the Persian kings to publish edicts in our favour.

To leave us a remnant to escape — The ten tribes are gone irrecoverably into captivity; a great part even of Judah and Benjamin had continued beyond the Euphrates: so that Ezra might well say, there was but a remnant which had escaped.

A nail in his holy place — Even so much ground as to fix our tent-poles in.

May lighten our eyes — To give us a thorough knowledge of ourselves and of our highest interest, and to enable us to re-establish his worship, is the reason why God has brought us back to this place.

A little reviving — We were perishing, and our hopes were almost dead; and, because of our sins, we were sentenced to death: but God in his great mercy has given us a new trial; and he begins with little, to see if we will make a wise and faithful use of it.