Nehemiah 8

Ezra Reads the Torah

1All the people gathered as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Torah of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 2So Ezra the priest brought the Torah before the assembly, both men and women and everyone who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, before the men, women, and people who could understand. The ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the Torah.

4Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform they had made for the purpose. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and on his left stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood. 6Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 7Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites helped the people understand the Torah while the people remained in their places. 8They read from the book, from the Torah of God, clearly, and they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading.

The Joy of the LORD Is Your Strength

9Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Torah. 10Then he said to them, “Go, eat rich food and drink sweet drink, and send portions to anyone for whom nothing has been prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 11The Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy. Do not grieve.” 12Then all the people went to eat and drink, to send portions, and to make a great celebration, because they had understood the words that had been revealed to them.

The Festival of Booths

13On the second day, the heads of ancestral houses of all the people, along with the priests and Levites, gathered to Ezra the scribe to gain insight into the words of the Torah. 14They found written in the Torah that the LORD had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in booths during the festival of the seventh month, 15and that they should reveal and proclaim throughout all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “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.” 16So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on the roof, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, in the square at the Water Gate, and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17The whole assembly of people who had returned from captivity made booths and lived in the booths. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not done so in this way. And there was very great joy. 18Day by day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the book of the Torah of God. They kept the festival seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the prescribed manner.