Ezr 10:6, Neh 8-9 | ESV | STEP | Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib , where he spent the night , neither eating bread nor drinking water , for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles .

6 Then Ezra withdrew ^afrom before the house of God and went to the ^bchamber of ^cJehohanan the son of ^dEliashib, where he spent the night, ^{▼▼Probable reading; Hebrew where he went} neither ^feating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles.

Nehemiah 8

Ezra Reads the Law

1 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before ^gthe Water Gate. And they told ^hEzra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest ⁱbrought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, ^jon the first day of the seventh month. 3 ^kAnd he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ^l“Amen, Amen,” ^mlifting up their hands. ⁿAnd they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 ^oAlso Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, ^{▼▼Vulgate; Hebrew and the Levites} ^qhelped the people to understand the Law, ^rwhile the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, ^{▼▼Or with interpretation, or paragraph by paragraph} and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

9 And Nehemiah, who was ^tthe governor, and Ezra ^uthe priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ^v“This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^wdo not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and ^xsend portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because ^ythey had understood the words that were declared to them.

Feast of Booths Celebrated

13 On the second day the heads of fathers’ 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 ^zthat the people of Israel should dwell in booths ^{▼▼Or temporary shelters} during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should proclaim it and ^abpublish it in all their towns and ^acin Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring ^adbranches 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 ^aeon his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at ^afthe Water Gate and in the square at ^agthe Gate of Ephraim. 17 And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day ^ahthe people of Israel had not done so. And there was ^aivery great rejoicing. 18 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, ^ajhe read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and ^akon the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

Nehemiah 9

The People of Israel Confess Their Sin

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of ^althis month the people of Israel were assembled ^amwith fasting ^anand in sackcloth, ^aoand with earth on their heads. 2 ^apAnd the Israelites ^{▼▼Hebrew the offspring of Israel} separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 ^arAnd 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; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 On the stairs of the Levites stood ^asJeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. ^atBlessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 ^{▼▼Septuagint adds And Ezra said} ^av“You are the Lord, you alone. ^awYou have made heaven, ^axthe heaven of heavens, ^aywith all their host, ^azthe earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; ^baand you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God ^bbwho chose Abram and brought him out of ^bcUr of the Chaldeans ^bdand gave him the name Abraham. 8 ^beYou found his heart faithful before you, ^bfand made with him the covenant to give to his offspring ^bgthe land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. ^bhAnd you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

9 ^bi“And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard ^bjtheir cry at the Red Sea, 10 ^bkand performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that ^blthey acted arrogantly against our fathers. And ^bmyou made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 ^bnAnd you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, ^boas a stone into mighty waters. 12 By ^bpa pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. 13 ^bqYou came down on Mount Sinai ^brand spoke with them from heaven and gave them ^bsright rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 ^btand you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. 15 ^buYou gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and ^bvbrought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you ^bwtold them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

16 “But they and our fathers ^bxacted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey ^byand were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, ^bzgracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18 Even ^cawhen they had made for themselves a golden ^{▼▼Hebrew metal} calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ ^ccand had committed great blasphemies, 19 you ^cdin your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. ^ceThe pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, ^cfnor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 ^cgYou gave your good Spirit to instruct them ^chand did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 ^ciForty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

22 “And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. ^cjSo they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon ^ckand the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their children ^clas the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 ^cmSo the descendants went in and possessed the land, ^cnand you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. 25 And they captured ^cofortified cities and ^cpa rich land, and took possession of ^cqhouses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled ^crand became fat and delighted themselves in ^csyour great goodness.

26 ^ct“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you ^cuand cast your law behind their back ^cvand killed your prophets, who ^cwhad warned them in order to turn them back to you, ^cxand they committed great blasphemies. 27 ^cyTherefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. ^czAnd in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them ^dasaviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. 28 ^dbBut after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, ^dcand many times you delivered them according to your mercies. 29 ^ddAnd you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet ^dethey acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, ^dfwhich if a person does them, he shall live by them, ^dgand they turned a stubborn shoulder ^dhand stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years ^diyou bore with them ^djand warned them ^dkby your Spirit through your prophets. ^dlYet they would not give ear. ^dmTherefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, ^dnin your great mercies ^doyou did not make an end of them or forsake them, ^dpfor you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 “Now, therefore, our God, ^dqthe great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, ^drsince the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 ^dsYet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully ^dtand we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, ^duand amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and ^dvrich land that you set before them, ^dwthey did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36 Behold, ^dxwe are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37 ^dyAnd its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

38 ^{▼▼Ch 10:1 in Hebrew} “Because of all this ^eawe make a firm covenant in writing; on ^ebthe sealed document are the names of ^{▼▼Hebrew lacks the names of} our princes, our Levites, and our priests.