Ezra Reads the Law

8 And all the people gathered as one person at the public square which was in front of ^(A)the Water Gate, and they ^[a]asked ^(B)Ezra the scribe to bring ^(C)the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had ^[b]given to Israel. ² Then ^(D)Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on ^(E)the first day of the seventh month. ³ And he read from it before the public square which was in front of ^(F)the Water Gate, from ^[c]early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and ^[d]all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴ Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left. ⁵ Then Ezra opened ^(G)the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people ^(H)stood up. ⁶ Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “^(I)Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then ^(J)they kneeled down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites explained the Law to the people while the people remained in their place. ⁸ They read from the book, from the Law of God, ^[e]translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

⁹ Then Nehemiah, who was the ^[f](K)governor, and Ezra ^(L)the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “^(M)This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^(N)do 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 the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and ^(O)send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your ^[g]refuge.” ¹¹ So the Levites silenced all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹² Then all the people went away to eat, drink, ^(P)to send portions, and to ^[h]celebrate a great feast, ^(Q)because 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 so that they might gain insight into the words of the Law. ¹⁴ And they found written in the Law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel ^(R)were to live in ^[i]booths during the feast of the seventh month. ^15 (S)And that they were to proclaim and circulate a proclamation in all their cities and ^(T)in Jerusalem, saying, “^(U)Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and ^[j]wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other trees with thick branches, to make booths, as it is written.” ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each ^(V)on his roof, and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the house of God, and in the public square at ^(W)the Water Gate, and in the square at ^(X)the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths. Indeed, the sons of Israel ^(Y)had not done so since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And ^(Z)there was very great rejoicing. ^18 (AA)He read from the Book of the Law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they ^(AB)celebrated the feast seven days, and on ^(AC)the eighth day there was a festive assembly in accordance with the ordinance.

Paul in Corinth

18 After these events Paul left ^(A)Athens and went to ^(B)Corinth. ² And he found a Jew named ^(C)Aquila, a native of ^(D)Pontus having recently come from ^(E)Italy with his wife ^(F)Priscilla, because ^(G)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, ³ and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and ^(H)they worked together, for they were tent-makers by trade. ⁴ And Paul was reasoning ^(I)in the synagogue every ^(J)Sabbath and trying to persuade ^(K)Jews and Greeks.

⁵ But when ^(L)Silas and Timothy ^(M)came down from ^(N)Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, ^(O)testifying to the Jews that ^(P)Jesus was the ^[a]Christ. ⁶ But when they resisted and blasphemed, he ^(Q)shook out his garments and said to them, “Your ^(R)blood is ^[b]on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go ^(S)to the Gentiles.” ⁷ Then he left ^[c]the synagogue and went to the house of a man named ^[d]Titius Justus, ^(T)a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. ^8 (U)Crispus, ^(V)the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord ^(W)together with his entire household; and many of the ^(X)Corinthians, as they listened to Paul, were believing and being baptized. ⁹ And the Lord said to Paul by ^(Y)a vision at night, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But while Gallio was ^(Z)proconsul of ^(AA)Achaia, ^(AB)the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before ^(AC)the ^[e]judgment seat, ¹³ saying, “This man is inciting the people to worship God contrary to ^(AD)the ^[f]law.” ¹⁴ But when Paul was about to ^(AE)open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or vicious, unscrupulous act, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; ¹⁵ but if there are ^[g](AF)questions about ^[h]teaching and ^[i]persons and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.” ¹⁶ And he drove them away from ^(AG)the ^[j]judgment seat. ¹⁷ But they all took hold of ^(AH)Sosthenes, ^(AI)the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of ^(AJ)the judgment seat. And yet Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

¹⁸ Now Paul, when he had remained many days longer, ^(AK)took leave of ^(AL)the brothers and sisters and sailed away to ^(AM)Syria, and ^(AN)Priscilla and ^(AO)Aquila were with him. ^[k]Paul first ^(AP)had his hair cut at ^(AQ)Cenchrea, for he was keeping a vow. ¹⁹ They came to ^(AR)Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered ^(AS)the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, ²¹ but ^(AT)took leave of them and said, “I will return to you again ^(AU)if God wills,” and he set sail from ^(AV)Ephesus.

²² When he had landed in ^(AW)Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and went down to ^(AX)Antioch.

Third Missionary Journey

²³ And after spending some time there, he left and passed successively through the ^(AY)Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴ Now a Jew named ^(AZ)Apollos, an ^(BA)Alexandrian by birth, ^[l]an eloquent man, came to ^(BB)Ephesus; and he was proficient in the Scriptures. ²⁵ This man had been instructed in ^(BC)the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was accurately speaking and teaching things about Jesus, being acquainted only with ^(BD)the baptism of John; ²⁶ and ^[m]he began speaking boldly in the synagogue. But when ^(BE)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained ^(BF)the way of God more accurately to him. ²⁷ And when he wanted to go across to ^(BG)Achaia, ^(BH)the brothers encouraged him and wrote to ^(BI)the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly ^[n]helped those who had believed through grace, ²⁸ for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating ^(BJ)by the Scriptures that ^(BK)Jesus was the ^[o]Christ.