Nehemiah 8–9

CHAPTER 8

Ezra Reads the Book of the Law

¹And 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.

²Then ^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.

³And he read from it before the square which was in front of ^athe Water Gate from ¹early 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.

⁴Ezra 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.

⁵And 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.

⁶Then 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 ¹faces to the ground.

⁷Also 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.

⁸They read from the book, from the law of God, ¹explaining and ²giving insight, and they provided understanding of the reading.

This Day Is Holy

⁹Then Nehemiah, who was the ^1agovernor, 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.

¹⁰Then 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.”

¹¹So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”

¹²Then 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

¹³Then 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.

¹⁴They 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,

^15aand 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 ¹wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”

¹⁶So 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.

¹⁷The 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.

^18aAnd 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.

CHAPTER 9

Israel Confesses Their Sins

¹Now on the twenty-fourth day of ^athis month the sons of Israel gathered ^bwith fasting, in sackcloth and with ^cdirt upon them.

²The ^aseed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and ^bconfessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

³And ^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.

^4aThen 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.

⁵And 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 ¹Red 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 ¹swore to give them.

¹⁶“But they, our fathers, ^aacted presumptuously;

They ^1bbecame 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 ¹in 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 ¹committed great ²blasphemies,

^19aBut 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 ¹boundary.

^aThey took possession of the land of Sihon ²the 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 ^1brich ²land.

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 ¹committed great ²blasphemies.

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,

²⁹And ^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…