Ezra Reads the Book of the Law
And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of athe Water Gate, and they said to bEzra the scribe to bring cthe book of the law of Moses which Yahweh had commanded to Israel. 2 Then aEzra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could understand when listening, on bthe first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read from it before the square which was in front of athe Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the ears of the people were attentive to the book of the law. 4 Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 And Ezra opened athe book in the sight of all the people for he was above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people bstood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed Yahweh the great God. And all the people answered, “aAmen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands; then bthey bowed low and worshiped Yahweh with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, were providing understanding of the law to the people while the people stood in their place. 8 They read from the book, from the law of God, explaining and giving insight, and they provided understanding of the reading.
This Day Is Holy
9 Then Nehemiah, who was the agovernor, and Ezra bthe priest and scribe, and the Levites, who provided the people with understanding, said to all the people, “cThis day is holy to Yahweh your God; ddo not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and asend portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength.” 11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 Then all the people went away to eat, to drink, ato send portions, and to celebrate with great gladness, bbecause they understood the words which had been made known to them.
Feast of Booths Restored
13 Then on the second day the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law. 14 They found written in the law how Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses that the sons of Israel ashould live in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 aand that they should make the report heard and make a proclamation of it pass throughout all their cities and bin Jerusalem, saying, “cGo out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.” 16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each aon his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at bthe Water Gate and in the square at cthe Gate of Ephraim. 17 The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths. The sons of Israel ahad indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And bthere was exceedingly great gladness. 18 aAnd he read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they bcelebrated the feast seven days, and on cthe eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the legal judgment.
Israel Confesses Their Sins
Now on the twenty-fourth day of athis month the sons of Israel gathered bwith fasting, in sackcloth and with cdirt upon them. 2 The aseed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and bconfessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And athey rose up in their place and read from the book of the law of Yahweh their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they were confessing and worshiping Yahweh their God. 4 aThen Jeshua rose up on the Levites’ platform, along with Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out with a loud voice to Yahweh their God.
5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Rise up, bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting!
O may Your glorious name be blessed
And exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 aYou alone are Yahweh.
bYou have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host,
The earth and all that is on it,
The seas and all that is in them.
cYou give life to all of them
And the heavenly host bows down to You.
7 You are Yahweh God,
aWho chose Abram
And brought him out from bUr of the Chaldees,
And cgave him the name Abraham.
8 You found ahis heart faithful before You,
And cut a covenant with him
To give him the land of the Canaanite,
Of the Hittite and the Amorite,
Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite—
To give it to his seed.
And You bhave established Your promise,
For You are righteous.
9 “aYou saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And bheard their cry by the Red Sea.
10 Then You performed asigns and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that bthey acted presumptuously toward them,
And cmade a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 aYou split the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land;
And btheir pursuers You cast into the depths,
Like a stone into mighty waters.
12 And with a pillar of cloud aYou led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light for them the way
In which they were to go.
13 Then aYou came down on Mount Sinai,
And bspoke with them from heaven;
You gave them cupright judgments and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 So You made known to them aYour holy sabbath,
And commanded to them commandments, statutes and law,
By the hand of Your servant Moses.
15 You agave bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You bbrought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You csaid to them to enter in order to possess
The land which You swore to give them.
16 “But they, our fathers, aacted presumptuously;
They bbecame stiff‑necked and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 They refused to listen,
And adid not remember Your wondrous deeds which You did among them;
So they became stiff‑necked and bgave themselves a chief to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God cof lavish forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
18 Even when they amade for themselves
A molten calf
And said, ‘This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great blasphemies,
19 aBut You, in Your abundant compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
bThe pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To light for them the way in which they were to go.
20 aYou gave Your good Spirit to give them insight,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21 Indeed, aforty years You sustained them in the wilderness, and they did not lack;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
22 You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And apportioned them to them as a boundary.
aThey took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23 You made their sons numerous as athe stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had said for their fathers to enter and possess.
24 aSo their sons entered and possessed the land.
And bYou subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them according to their desire.
25 aThey captured fortified cities and a brich land.
They took possession of chouses full of every good thing,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Trees for food in abundance.
So they ate, were filled, and dgrew fat,
And ereveled in Your great goodness.
26 “aBut they became disobedient and rebelled against You,
And bcast Your law behind their backs
And ckilled Your prophets who had dtestified to them
So that they might return to You,
And ethey committed great blasphemies.
27 Therefore You agave them into the hand of the ones who distressed them, and they afflicted them with distress,
But bat the time of their distress they cried to You,
And You listened from heaven, and according to Your abundant compassion
You cgave them saviors and they saved them from the hand of the ones that distressed them.
28 But aas soon as they had rest, they returned to do evil before You;
Therefore You forsook them in the hand of their enemies, so they had dominion over them.
Then they returned and cried to You. And You listened from heaven,
And bmany times You delivered them according to Your compassion,
29 And atestified to them in order to turn them back to Your law.
Yet bthey acted presumptuously and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your judgments,
By cwhich if a man does them, he shall live.
And they dgave a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30 aHowever, You bore with them for many years,
And btestified to them by cYour Spirit by the hand of Your prophets,
Yet they would not give ear.
So You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless, in Your abundant compassion You adid not make a complete destruction of them or forsake them,
For You are ba gracious and compassionate God.
32 “So now, our God, athe great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,
Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,
Which has found us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all Your people,
bFrom the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 However, aYou are righteous in all that has come upon us;
For You have dealt in truth, but we have acted wickedly.
34 Now our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers did not do Your law
Or pay attention to Your commandments and Your testimonies with which You testified against them.
35 But athey, in their own kingdom,
bWith Your abundant goodness which You gave them,
With the broad and rich land which You set before them,
Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.
36 Behold, awe are slaves today,
And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its goodness,
Behold, we are slaves in it.
37 aIts abundant produce is for the kings
Whom You have put over us because of our sins;
They also rule over our bodies
And over our cattle according to their desire,
So we are in great distress.
An Agreement Is Cut
38 “Now because of all this
aWe are cutting an agreement in writing;
And on the bsealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.”
Signers of the Document
Now on the asealed document were the following names:
Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,
2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,
4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah. These were the priests.
9 And the Levites:
Jeshua the son of Azaniah,
Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel;
10 also their brothers Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu.
14 The heads of the people:
Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,
15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,
19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,
27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.
The People Enter into an Oath
28 Now athe rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and ball those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters—all those who had knowledge and understanding, 29 are joining with their relatives, their nobles, and are aentering into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given by the hand of Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to do all the commandments of Yahweh our Lord and His judgments and His statutes; 30 and athat we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 As afor the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not receive from them on the sabbath or a holy day; and we will forego the crops the bseventh year and the cexaction of every debt.
32 We also set ourselves under the commandments to give yearly aone-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the ashowbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the sabbaths, the new moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.
34 Likewise awe cast lots bfor the supply of wood among the priests, the Levites, and the people, in order to bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at fixed times annually, to burn on the altar of Yahweh our God, as it is written in the law; 35 and to bring the first fruits of our ground and athe first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of Yahweh annually, 36 and to abring to the house of our God the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks as it is written in the law, for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. 37 aWe will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the oil bto the priests at the chambers of the house of our God, and the ctithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the towns where we serve. 38 aAnd the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of bthe storehouse. 39 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the acontribution of the grain, the new wine and the oil to the chambers; the utensils of the sanctuary are there, as well as the priests who are ministering and the gatekeepers and the singers. Thus bwe will not forsake the house of our God.