²⁴ And ^(A)a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, ^(B)able to teach, ^(C)patient, ^25 (D)in humility correcting those who are in opposition, ^(E)if God perhaps will grant them repentance, ^(F)so that they may know the truth,

^11 (A)and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”

⁵ Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for ^(A)the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; ^(B)by their word every controversy and every ^[a]assault shall be settled.

^8 (A)Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, ^(B)who^[a] has also given us His Holy Spirit.

²⁰ Now then, we are ^(A)ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

¹⁷ This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”

¹⁰ For Ezra had prepared his heart to ^(A)seek^[a] the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to ^(B)teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

² So Ezra the priest brought ^(A)the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding ^(B)on the first day of the seventh month. ³ Then he ^(C)read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate ^[a]from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

⁴ So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. ⁵ And Ezra opened 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 ^(D)stood up. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

Then all the people ^(E)answered, “Amen, Amen!” while ^(F)lifting up their hands. And they ^(G)bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

⁷ Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, ^(H)helped the people to understand the Law; and the people ^(I)stood in their place. ⁸ So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.