Nehemiah 8
1 And all the people are gathered as one man to the broad place that [is] before the Water Gate, and they say to Ezra the scribe to bring the Scroll of the Law of Moses, that YHWH commanded Israel.
And when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their towns. And all the people came together like one man into the wide place in front of the water-doorway; and they made a request to Ezra the scribe that he would put before them the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel.
2 And Ezra the priest brings the Law before the assembly, both of men and women, and everyone intelligent to hear, on the first day of the seventh month,
And Ezra the priest put the law before the meeting of the people, before the men and women and all those who were able to take it in, on the first day of the seventh month.
3 and he reads in it before the broad place that [is] before the Water Gate, from the light until the middle of the day, in front of the men, and the women, and those intelligent, and the ears of all the people [are] toward the Scroll of the Law.
He was reading it in the wide place in front of the water-doorway, from early morning till the middle of the day, in the hearing of all those men and women whose minds were able to take it in; and the ears of all the people were open to the book of the law.
4 And Ezra the scribe stands on a tower of wood that they made for the purpose, and Mattithiah stands near him, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right; and on his left Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchijah, and Hashum, and Hashbaddana, Zechariah, Meshullam.
And Ezra the scribe took his place on a tower of wood which they had made for the purpose; and by his side were placed Mattithiah and Shema and Anaiah and Uriah and Hilkiah and Maaseiah on the right; and on the left, Pedaiah and Mishael and Malchijah and Hashum and Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.
5 And Ezra opens the scroll before the eyes of all the people—for he has been above all the people—and at his opening [it] all the people have stood up,
And Ezra took the book, opening it before the eyes of all the people (for he was higher than the people); and when it was open, all the people got to their feet:
6 and Ezra blesses YHWH, the great God, and all the people answer, “Amen, Amen,” with lifting up of their hands, and they bow and pay respect to YHWH—faces to the earth.
And Ezra gave praise to the Lord, the great God. And all the people in answer said, So be it, so be it; lifting up their hands; and with bent heads they gave worship to the Lord, going down on their faces to the earth.
7 And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, giving the people understanding in the Law, and the people, [are] on their station,
And Jeshua and Bani and Sherebiah and Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites made the law clear to the people: and the people kept in their places.
8 and they read in the Scroll, in the Law of God, explaining—so as to give the meaning, and they give understanding to the convocation.
And they gave out the words of the book the law of God, clearly, and gave the sense of it, so that their minds were able to take it in.
9 And Nehemiah—he [is] the Tirshatha—says (and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who are instructing the people) to all the people, “Today is holy to your God YHWH, do not mourn, nor weep”: for all the people are weeping at their hearing the words of the Law.
And Nehemiah, who was the Tirshatha, and Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were the teachers of the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God; let there be no sorrow or weeping; for all the people were weeping on hearing the words of the law.
10 And he says to them, “Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today [is] holy to our Lord, and do not be grieved, for the joy of YHWH is your strength.”
Then he said to them, Go away now, and take the fat for your food and the sweet for your drink, and send some to him for whom nothing is made ready: for this day is holy to our Lord: and let there be no grief in your hearts; for the joy of the Lord is your strong place.
11 And the Levites are keeping all the people silent, saying, “Be silent, for today [is] holy, and do not be grieved.”
So the Levites made all the people quiet, saying, Be quiet, for the day is holy; and do not give way to grief.
12 And all the people go to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great joy, because they have understood concerning the words that they made known to them.
And all the people went away to take food and drink, and to send food to others, and to be glad, because the words which were said to them had been made clear.
13 And on the second day have been gathered heads of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to act wisely concerning the words of the Law.
And on the second day the heads of families of all the people and the priests and the Levites came together to Ezra the scribe, to give attention to the words of the law.
14 And they find written in the Law that YHWH commanded by the hand of Moses, that the sons of Israel dwell in shelters in the celebration, in the seventh month,
And they saw that it was recorded in the law that the Lord had given orders by Moses, that the children of Israel were to have tents for their living-places in the feast of the seventh month:
15 and that they proclaim and cause to pass over all their cities (and in Jerusalem), saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring leaves of the olive, and leaves of the oil tree, and leaves of the myrtle, and leaves of the palms, and leaves of thick trees, to make shelters as it is written.”
And that they were to give out an order, and make it public in all their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, Go out to the mountain and get olive branches and branches of field olives and of myrtle, and palm branches and branches of thick trees, to make tents, as it says in the book.
16 And the people go out, and bring in, and make for themselves shelters, each on his roof, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the broad place of the Water Gate, and in the broad place of the Gate of Ephraim.
And the people went out and got them and made themselves tents, every one on the roof of his house, and in the open spaces and in the open squares of the house of God, and in the wide place of the water-doorway, and the wide place of the doorway of Ephraim.
17 And they make—all the assembly of the captives of the captivity—shelters, and they sit in shelters; for the sons of Israel had not done, from the days of Jeshua son of Nun, so to that day, and there is very great joy.
All the people who had been prisoners and had come back, made tents and were living in them: for from the time of Jeshua, the son of Nun, till that day, the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great joy.
18 And he reads in the Scroll of the Law of God day by day, from the first day until the last day, and they make a celebration seven days, and on the eighth day a restraint, according to the ordinance.
And day by day, from the first day till the last, he was reading from the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast for seven days: and on the eighth day there was a holy meeting, as it is ordered in the law.
