Neh 8-9 | ESV | STEP | And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate . And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel .

1 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before ^athe Water Gate. And they told ^bEzra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest ^cbrought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, ^don the first day of the seventh month. 3 ^eAnd 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, ^f“Amen, Amen,” ^glifting up their hands. ^hAnd they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 ⁱAlso Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, ^{▼▼Vulgate; Hebrew and the Levites} ^khelped the people to understand the Law, ^lwhile 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 ⁿthe governor, and Ezra ^othe priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ^p“This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^qdo 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 ^rsend 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 ^sthey 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 ^tthat 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 ^vpublish it in all their towns and ^win Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring ^xbranches 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 ^yon his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at ^zthe Water Gate and in the square at ^aathe 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 ^abthe people of Israel had not done so. And there was ^acvery great rejoicing. 18 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, ^adhe read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and ^aeon 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 ^afthis month the people of Israel were assembled ^agwith fasting ^ahand in sackcloth, ^aiand with earth on their heads. 2 ^ajAnd 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 ^alAnd 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 ^amJeshua, 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. ^anBlessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 ^{▼▼Septuagint adds And Ezra said} ^ap“You are the Lord, you alone. ^aqYou have made heaven, ^arthe heaven of heavens, ^aswith all their host, ^atthe earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; ^auand you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God ^avwho chose Abram and brought him out of ^awUr of the Chaldeans ^axand gave him the name Abraham. 8 ^ayYou found his heart faithful before you, ^azand made with him the covenant to give to his offspring ^bathe land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. ^bbAnd you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

9 ^bc“And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard ^bdtheir cry at the Red Sea, 10 ^beand performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that ^bfthey acted arrogantly against our fathers. And ^bgyou made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 ^bhAnd 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, ^bias a stone into mighty waters. 12 By ^bja 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 ^bkYou came down on Mount Sinai ^bland spoke with them from heaven and gave them ^bmright rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 ^bnand you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. 15 ^boYou gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and ^bpbrought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you ^bqtold them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

16 “But they and our fathers ^bracted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey ^bsand 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, ^btgracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18 Even ^buwhen they had made for themselves a golden ^{▼▼Hebrew metal} calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ ^bwand had committed great blasphemies, 19 you ^bxin your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. ^byThe pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, ^bznor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 ^caYou gave your good Spirit to instruct them ^cband did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 ^ccForty 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. ^cdSo they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon ^ceand the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their children ^cfas the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 ^cgSo the descendants went in and possessed the land, ^chand 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 ^cifortified cities and ^cja rich land, and took possession of ^ckhouses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled ^cland became fat and delighted themselves in ^cmyour great goodness.

26 ^cn“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you ^coand cast your law behind their back ^cpand killed your prophets, who ^cqhad warned them in order to turn them back to you, ^crand they committed great blasphemies. 27 ^csTherefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. ^ctAnd 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 ^cusaviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. 28 ^cvBut 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, ^cwand many times you delivered them according to your mercies. 29 ^cxAnd you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet ^cythey acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, ^czwhich if a person does them, he shall live by them, ^daand they turned a stubborn shoulder ^dband stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years ^dcyou bore with them ^ddand warned them ^deby your Spirit through your prophets. ^dfYet they would not give ear. ^dgTherefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, ^dhin your great mercies ^diyou did not make an end of them or forsake them, ^djfor you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 “Now, therefore, our God, ^dkthe 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, ^dlsince the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 ^dmYet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully ^dnand 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, ^doand amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and ^dprich land that you set before them, ^dqthey did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36 Behold, ^drwe 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 ^dsAnd 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 ^duwe make a firm covenant in writing; on ^dvthe sealed document are the names of ^{▼▼Hebrew lacks the names of} our princes, our Levites, and our priests.