Day by day, from the first day of the festival to the last day, Ezra continued to read from the Book of Elohim’s Teachings. The people celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, they had a closing festival assembly in accordance with the regulations.

They stood in their places, and for one-fourth of the day, they listened as the Book of the Teachings of Yahweh their Elohim was read, and for another fourth of the day, they confessed their sins and worshiped Yahweh their Elohim.

A Day of Prayer

Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chanani stood on the stairs built for the Levites and cried loudly to Yahweh their Elohim.

Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up, and thank Yahweh your Elohim:

Creation

From everlasting to everlasting your glorious name is praised and lifted high above all blessing and praise.

Abraham

You are Yahweh, the Elohim who chose Abram and took him from Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

They refused to listen. They forgot the miracles you performed for them. They became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to slavery in Egypt. But you are a forgiving Elohim, one who is compassionate, merciful, patient, and always ready to forgive. You never abandoned them,

The Present

And now, our Elohim, you are the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring El. You faithfully keep your promises. Do not consider all the hardships that we have been going through as unimportant. The hardships have come to our kings, leaders, priests, prophets, ancestors, and all your people from the time of the kings of Assyria until now.

The rest of the people took an oath. These people included the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the inhabitants of the land for the sake of Elohim’s Teachings. Their wives, sons, daughters, and everyone who is capable of understanding also took an oath.

They joined their relatives, the nobles, in binding themselves with a curse and an oath to follow Elohim’s teachings given by Moses, Elohim’s servant. They also bound themselves to follow all the commandments, rules, and regulations of Yahweh our Adonay.

Also, we take upon ourselves the obligation to give an eighth of an ounce of silver every year for worship in our Elohim’s temple:

for rows of the bread of the presence, and for the daily grain offerings and daily burnt offerings, on the weekly days of worship, and on the New Moon Festivals, and at the appointed annual festivals, for the holy gifts and offerings for sin that make peace with God for Israel, and for all the other work in the temple of our Elohim.

We priests, Levites, and laypeople have drawn lots to decide the order in which the heads of our families should bring wood to our Elohim’s temple to burn on the altar of Yahweh our Elohim at appointed times every year according to the directions in the Teachings.

Following the directions in the Teachings, we have drawn lots to decide who should bring the firstborn of our sons, our cattle, and our flocks to the priests serving in our Elohim’s temple.

A priest—one of Aaron’s descendants—should be with the Levites when they collect the tenth. Then the Levites should bring one-tenth of these tenths to our Elohim’s temple, into the rooms of the storehouses there.

The Israelites and the Levites should bring into the storerooms their contributions of grain, new wine, and olive oil. They should bring these products to the place where the utensils of the holy place are and where the priests who serve and the gatekeepers and the singers are. We won’t neglect our Elohim’s temple.

Seraiah, who was the son of Hilkiah, who was the son of Meshullam, who was the son of Zadok, who was the son of Meraioth, who was the son of Ahitub, who was the supervisor of Elohim’s temple.

Shabbethai and Jozabad, Levite leaders, who were in charge of the work outside Elohim’s temple.

The man in charge of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi, who was the son of Bani, who was the son of Hashabiah, who was the son of Mattaniah, who was the son of Mica from Asaph’s descendants who were the singers in charge of worship in Elohim’s temple.

The heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua (son of Kadmiel). They and their relatives stood in groups across from one another to sing hymns of praise and thanksgiving antiphonally as David, the man of Elohim, had ordered.

Also, these relatives of Zechariah followed: Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani with the musical instruments of David, the man of Elohim. Ezra the scribe led them.

So both choirs stood in Elohim’s temple, as did I and the half of the leaders who were with me.

That day they offered many sacrifices and rejoiced because Elohim had given them reason to rejoice. The women and children rejoiced as well. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.

They were doing what their Elohim required, what needed to be done for cleansing. The singers and the gatekeepers did what David and his son Solomon had ordered them to do.

Long ago in the time of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers to lead in singing the songs of praise and hymns of thanksgiving to Elohim.

On that day the Book of Moses was read while the people were listening. They heard the passage that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into Elohim’s assembly.