Nehemiah 7:73-9:21

New American Standard Bible

⁷³Now ^(A)the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel lived in their cities.

^(B)And when the seventh month came, the sons of Israel were in their cities.

Ezra Reads the Law

8 And all the people gathered as one person at the public square which was in front of ^(C)the Water Gate, and they ^[a]asked ^(D)Ezra the scribe to bring ^(E)the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had ^[b]given to Israel. ²Then ^(F)Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on ^(G)the first day of the seventh month. ³And he read from it before the public square which was in front of ^(H)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. ⁴Ezra 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. ⁵Then Ezra opened ^(I)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 ^(J)stood up. ⁶Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “^(K)Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then ^(L)they kneeled down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ⁷Also 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. ⁸They 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

⁹Then Nehemiah, who was the ^[f]^(M)governor, and Ezra ^(N)the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “^(O)This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^(P)do 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 the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and ^(Q)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.” ¹¹So the Levites silenced all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹²Then all the people went away to eat, drink, ^(R)to send portions, and to ^[h]celebrate a great feast, ^(S)because 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 so that they might gain insight into the words of the Law. ¹⁴And they found written in the Law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel ^(T)were to live in ^[i]booths during the feast of the seventh month. ¹⁵^(U)And that they were to proclaim and circulate a proclamation in all their cities and ^(V)in Jerusalem, saying, “^(W)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.” ¹⁶So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each ^(X)on his roof, and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the house of God, and in the public square at ^(Y)the Water Gate, and in the square at ^(Z)the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths. Indeed, the sons of Israel ^(AA)had not done so since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And ^(AB)there was very great rejoicing. ¹⁸^(AC)He read from the Book of the Law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they ^(AD)celebrated the feast seven days, and on ^(AE)the eighth day there was a festive assembly in accordance with the ordinance.

The People Confess Their Sin

9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of ^(AF)this month the sons of Israel assembled ^(AG)with fasting, in sackcloth and with ^(AH)dirt upon them. ²The ^[k]^(AI)descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and ^(AJ)confessed their sins and the wrongdoings of their fathers. ³While ^(AK)they stood in their place, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. ⁴^(AL)Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

⁵Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, “Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever!

May Your glorious name be blessed
And exalted above all blessing and praise!
⁶^(AM)You alone are the Lord.
^(AN)You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their ^[l]lights,
The earth and everything that is on it,
The seas and everything that is in them.
^(AO)You give life to all of them,
And the heavenly ^[m]lights bow down before You.
⁷You are the Lord God,
^(AP)Who chose Abram
And brought him out from ^(AQ)Ur of the Chaldees,
And ^(AR)gave him the name Abraham.
⁸You found ^(AS)his heart faithful before You,
And made 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 ^[n]descendants.
And You ^(AT)have fulfilled Your ^[o]promise,
Because You are righteous.

⁹“^(AU)You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And ^(AV)heard their cry by the ^[p]Red Sea.
¹⁰Then You performed ^(AW)signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that ^(AX)they acted arrogantly toward them,
And You ^(AY)made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
¹¹^(AZ)You divided the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground;
And You hurled ^(BA)their pursuers into the depths,
Like a stone into ^[q]raging waters.
¹²And with a pillar of cloud ^(BB)You led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light for them the way
In which they were to go.
¹³Then ^(BC)You came down on Mount Sinai,
And ^(BD)spoke with them from heaven;
You gave them ^(BE)just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
¹⁴So You made known to them ^(BF)Your holy Sabbath,
And gave them commandments, statutes, and law,
Through Your servant Moses.
¹⁵You ^(BG)provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You ^(BH)brought out water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You ^(BI)told them to enter in order to take possession of
The land which You ^[r]swore to give them.

¹⁶“But they, our fathers, ^(BJ)acted arrogantly;
They ^[s]^(BK)became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
¹⁷They refused to listen,
And ^(BL)did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them;
So they became stubborn and ^(BM)appointed a leader to return to their slavery in ^[t]Egypt.
But You are a God ^(BN)of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in ^[u]mercy;
And You did not abandon them.
¹⁸Even when they ^(BO)made for themselves
A calf of cast metal
And said, ‘This is your ^[v]god
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great blasphemies,
¹⁹^(BP)You, in Your great compassion,
Did not abandon them in the wilderness;
^(BQ)The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,
To guide them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.
²⁰Instead, ^(BR)You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
²¹Indeed, for ^(BS)forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not lacking;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell up.