Chronological
Ezra Reads the Law of Moses
8 When the seventh month came and the Israelites were in their cities,[a] all the people gathered together at the public square that is in front of the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation, both men and women and all who were able to understand what they heard. 3 From dawn until midday in front of the public square in front of the Water Gate, he read from the scroll, while facing the men, the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. 4 Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that was made for the occasion. Beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Ma’aseiah on his right, and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
5 All the people could see Ezra as he opened the scroll, because he was elevated above all the people. As he opened the scroll, all the people stood. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen! Amen!” while they lifted up their hands and then knelt and bowed down with their faces to the ground.
7 Jeshua and Bani and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Ma’aseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the rest of the Levites helped the people understand the Law, while the people remained standing in their places. 8 So they read from the Book of the Law of God clearly and interpreted it, and the people understood what was read.[b]
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites, who helped the people understand, said to all the people, “Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or cry!” because all the people were crying as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Nehemiah said to them, “Go, eat rich food and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, because today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
11 Then the Levites silenced all the people, saying, “Hush! Today is holy. Do not grieve.”
12 All the people went to eat and drink and to send portions to others and to celebrate with great joy, because they understood the words that had been made known to them.
Ezra Leads the Study of the Law of Moses
13 Now on the second day, the heads of the families of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered around Ezra the scribe to study the words of the Law. 14 They found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses, that the Israelites should dwell in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month, 15 and that they should proclaim this and make this announcement in all their cities and in Jerusalem: “Go out to the mountains and bring branches from olive trees, wild olive trees, myrtle bushes, date palms, and leafy trees to make shelters, as it is written.”
16 So the people went out and brought branches and made shelters for themselves. Each man made a shelter on his roof. They also made shelters in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the house of God, in the square by the Water Gate, and in the square by the Ephraim Gate. 17 The entire congregation that had returned from the captivity made shelters and stayed in the shelters. From the days of Joshua[c] son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated in this way, because there was very great joy. 18 Ezra also read from the Book of the Law of God every day of the festival, from the first day to the last day. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly according to the ordinance.
Worship and the Reading of the Law
9 On the twenty-fourth day of this same month, the Israelites gathered together. They were fasting and wearing sackcloth, and they had dirt on their faces.[d] 2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood and confessed their sins and the guilt of their ancestors. 3 They stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and for another quarter they confessed their sins and worshipped the Lord their God.
4 Then Jeshua and Bani,[e] Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani stood on the stairs for the Levites and cried out in a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 The Levites Jeshua and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said,
“Stand up! Bless the Lord your God,
who is from eternity to eternity.
May they bless your glorious Name,
which is more exalted than all other blessing and praise.
6 You are the Lord—you alone.
You made the heavens—
the highest heavens and their entire army,
the earth and everything that is on it,
the seas and all that is in them.
You sustain life in all of them,
and the army of heaven worships you.
7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram.
You brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans,
and you gave him the name Abraham.
8 You found his heart to be faithful before you.
You made the covenant with him
to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites,
the Hittites, the Amorites and the Perizzites,
and the Jebusites and the Girgashites.[f]
You kept your word, because you are righteous.
9 You saw the oppression of our ancestors in Egypt.
You heard their cry at the Red Sea.
10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
against all his officials,
and against all the people of his land,
because you knew that they were acting arrogantly against Israel.
You made a name for yourself, as it remains to this day.
11 You split the sea in front of them,
and they passed through the middle of it on dry ground.
You threw their pursuers into the depths like a stone into mighty waters.
12 With a pillar of cloud you led them by day
and with a pillar of fire by night,
which lit up for them the way they were to travel.
13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven.
You gave them upright judgments and true laws,
good statutes and commandments.
14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath.
You gave them commandments, statutes,
and the Law, by the hand of your servant Moses.
15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
and you made water come out of a rock for their thirst.
Then you told them to go and take possession of the land
that you swore to give them.
16 But they and our ancestors acted arrogantly.
They became stiff-necked and would not listen to your commands.
17 So they refused to listen,
and they did not remember your wonders that you did for them.
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
in order to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But you are a God who is forgiving, merciful, and compassionate,
slow to anger, abounding in mercy.
So you did not abandon them.
18 However, they made a cast metal calf for themselves and said,
“This is your god who brought you up from Egypt,”
and they committed great blasphemies.
19 But in your abundant compassion, you did not abandon them in the wilderness.
By day the pillar of cloud did not depart from above them
or stop leading them on their way.
By night the pillar of fire did not stop lighting the way that they should go.
20 You gave them your good Spirit to give them insight.
So you did not withhold your manna from their mouth,
and you gave them water for their thirst.
21 You sustained them for forty years in the wilderness.
They did not lack anything.
Their clothing did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.
22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples,
and you divided their whole territory among them.
They took possession of the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon,
and also the land of Og, the king of Bashan.
23 You made their children as numerous as the stars of heaven.
You brought them to the land that you had told their ancestors to enter and possess.
24 Their children came and possessed the land,
and you subdued the Canaanite inhabitants of the land before them.
You gave their kings and the peoples of the land into their hand
to do with them as they pleased.
25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land.
They possessed houses full of all kinds of good things,
hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive orchards,
and fruit trees in abundance.
They ate and were satisfied.
They became fat and delighted in your great goodness.
26 But they rebelled and revolted against you and rejected your Law.
They killed your prophets, who had testified against them
so that they would return to you.
They also committed great blasphemies.
27 So you delivered them into the hand of their oppressors,
who made them suffer.
But when they cried to you at the time of their distress,
you heard from heaven,
and according to your great compassion, you gave them deliverers,
who saved them from the hand of their oppressors.
28 However, as soon as they had rest, they returned to doing evil before you.
So you abandoned them into the hand of their enemies,
and they ruled over them.
Then they turned and cried out to you.
You heard from heaven,
and you rescued them many times, according to your great compassion.
29 You testified against them to lead them back to your law,
but they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commands.
They sinned against your judgments
by which a man will live when he obeys them.
They turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked, and would not listen.
30 You were patient with them for many years,
and you testified against them by your Spirit through your prophets.
But they would not listen,
so you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless, in your great compassion you did not put an end to them.
You did not abandon them,
because you are a gracious and compassionate God.
32 So now, you our God, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God,
who keeps the covenant of mercy,
do not regard as trivial all the hardships that have found us,
our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets,
our ancestors, and all your people,
from the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 You are righteous in regard to everything that has come upon us,
because you have acted faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.
34 Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors did not follow your law.
They did not pay attention to your commands
or to your testimony that you gave against them.
35 Although they were in their own kingdom,
and they were enjoying your great goodness that you gave to them,
and they were enjoying the spacious and fertile land
that you placed before them,
they still did not serve you,
and they did not repent of their evil deeds.
36 As a result, we are slaves today.
We are slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors
so that they could eat its fruit and its good things.
37 It is yielding abundant produce to kings
whom you placed over us because of our sins,
and they are ruling our bodies and our livestock as they please,
while we are in great distress.
The Solemn Agreement[g]
10 So in all this we are making a solemn agreement and putting it in writing and attaching the seals of our officials, Levites, and priests.
These were the men who placed their seals on it:
Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hakaliah,
Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah,
4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluk,
5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
8 Ma’aziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah.
These are the priests.
9 The Levites were:
Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui from the sons of Henadad, and Kadmiel.
10 Their relatives were Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zakkur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
13 Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.
14 The heads of the people were:
Parosh, Pahath Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Ma’aseiah,
26 and Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluk, Harim, Ba’anah.
28 Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and every person who had separated himself from the peoples of the lands for the sake of the Law of God, with their wives, their sons, and their daughters—all the people who have knowledge and understanding— 29 are making a commitment with their brothers, that is, with the important people, and they are placing themselves under a curse and under an oath to walk in the Law of God that was given through Moses the servant of God, an oath to keep the law and to obey all the commands of the Lord our God and his judgments and his statutes.
The Terms of the Agreement
30 We promise to keep these points:
We will not give our daughters in marriage to the peoples of the land, and we will not take their daughters for marriage to our sons.
31 We will not buy anything from the peoples of the land who are bringing goods and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day or on a holy day.
We will leave the land fallow during the seventh year, and we will forgive every loan.
32 We will each assume the responsibility to keep the commands to give a third of a shekel per year for the service of the house of our God, 33 for the Bread of the Presence, for the regular daily grain offerings, the continual burnt offerings, the Sabbath offerings, the New Moon offerings, for the appointed festivals and holy offerings, and for sin offerings to atone for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.
34 We—the priests, the Levites, and the people—have cast lots to determine our turns for each fathers’ house[h] to bring the wood offering to the house of our God, at the appointed times each year, to be burned upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law.
35 We pledge to bring the firstfruits of our land and the firstfruits of every kind of fruit tree to the house of our God for ourselves. 36 We also will bring the firstborn of our sons and our animals, as is written in the Law, and we will bring the firstborn of our cattle and flocks to the house of our God for the priests who serve in the house of our God, 37 and we will bring the first of our dough and our contributions and the fruit of every tree. We will bring new wine and olive oil to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God, and we will bring the tithe from our land to the Levites. It is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work. 38 A priest, a descendant of Aaron, will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes. The Levites will bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the chambers of the treasury, 39 because the Israelites and the sons of Levi are to bring the contribution from the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the vessels of the sanctuary are kept, where the priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers serve.
In this way we will not abandon the house of our God.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.