Nehemiah 8:13-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Festival of Booths Celebrated
13 On the second day the heads of ancestral houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the law. 14 And they found it written in the law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the Israelites should live in booths[a] during the festival of the seventh month(A) 15 and that they should publish and proclaim in all their towns and in Jerusalem as follows, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths,[b] as it is written.”(B) 16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths[c] for themselves, each on the roofs of their houses, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.(C) 17 And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths[d] and lived in them, for from the days of Jeshua son of Nun to that day the Israelites had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.(D) 18 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, Ezra[e] read from the book of the law of God. They kept the festival seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.(E)
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Nehemiah 8:13-18
Common English Bible
The people celebrate the Festival of Booths
13 On the second day, the heads of the families of all the people, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered together around Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Instruction. 14 And they found written in the Instruction that the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in booths during the festival of the seventh month.[a]
15 They also found that they should make the following proclamation and announce it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.”
16 So the people went out and brought them, and made booths for themselves, each on the roofs of their houses or[b] their courtyards, in the courtyards of God’s house, in the area by the Water Gate, or in the area by the Gate of Ephraim.
17 The whole assembly of those who had returned from captivity made booths and lived in them. This was something that the people of Israel hadn’t done since the days of Joshua,[c] Nun’s son, and there was very great rejoicing.
18 He read from God’s Instruction scroll every day, from the first until the last day of the festival.[d] They kept the festival for seven days and held a solemn assembly on the eighth day, just as the Instruction required.
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- Nehemiah 8:14 September–October, Tishrei
- Nehemiah 8:16 Or and
- Nehemiah 8:17 Heb Jeshua
- Nehemiah 8:18 Heb lacks of the festival.
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