Nehemiah 8

¹ all the people gathered as one man on the square before the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which Yahweh had prescribed for Israel.

² Accordingly Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, consisting of men, women, and children old enough to understand. This was the first day of the seventh month.

³ On the square before the Water Gate, in the presence of the men and women, and children old enough to understand, he read from the book from early morning till noon; all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

⁴ Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden dais erected for the purpose; beside him stood, on his right, Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; on his left, Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

⁵ In full view of all the people-since he stood higher than all the people-Ezra opened the book; and when he opened it all the people stood up.

⁶ Then Ezra blessed Yahweh, the great God, and all the people raised their hands and answered, ‘Amen! Amen!’; then they bowed down and, face to the ground, prostrated themselves before Yahweh.

⁷ (Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabab, Hanan, Pelaiah, who were Levites, explained the Law to the people while the people remained standing.)

⁸ And Ezra read from the Law of God, translating and giving the sense, so that the people understood what was read.

⁹ Then (Nehemiah-His Excellency-and) Ezra, priest and scribe (and the Levites who were instructing the people) said to all the people, ‘This day is sacred to Yahweh your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep.’ For the people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law.

¹⁰ He then said, ‘Go, eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, and send a portion to the man who has nothing prepared ready. For this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of Yahweh is your stronghold.’

¹¹ And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, ‘Be at ease; this is a sacred day. Do not be sad.’

¹² And all the people went off to eat and drink and give shares away and begin to enjoy themselves since they had understood the meaning of what had been proclaimed to them.

¹³ On the second day the heads of families of the whole people, and the priests and Levites, gathered round Ezra the scribe to study the words of the Law.

¹⁴ And written in the Law that Yahweh had prescribed through Moses they found this, ‘The sons of Israel are to live in shelters during the feast of the seventh month’.

¹⁵ As soon as they heard this, they issued a proclamation in all their towns and in Jerusalem: ‘Go into the hills and bring branches of olive, pine, myrtle, palm and other leafy trees to make shelters, as it says in the book’.

¹⁶ The people went; they brought back branches and made themselves shelters, each man on his own roof, in their courtyards, in the precincts of the Temple of God, on the square of the Water Gate and the square of the Gate of Ephraim.

¹⁷ The whole assembly, all who had returned from captivity, put up shelters and lived in them; the sons of Israel had never done such a thing from the days of Joshua son of Nun till the present.[*a] And there was great merrymaking.

¹⁸ Each day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days; on the eighth day, as prescribed, there was a solemn assembly.