Nehemiah 8

1All the people came together, united as one, in the square in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the book of the law of Moses, which Yahweh had given Israel as his command.

2On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, made up of men and women and everyone able to listen and understand.

3Facing the square before the Water Gate, he read from it from daybreak until noon, with the men, the women, and those able to understand present, and every ear among the people was turned toward the book of the law.

4Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden stand built for this purpose. Standing next to him on his right were Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

5Ezra opened the book where all the people could see it, since he stood higher than all of them, and when he opened it, all the people rose to their feet.

6Ezra blessed Yahweh, the great God, and all the people, with their hands raised high, responded, “Amen, Amen!” Then they bent low and bowed down before Yahweh with their faces to the ground.

7Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites explained the law to the people as the people stood in their places.

8They read aloud from the book, the law of God, making it clear and explaining its meaning, so that the people grasped what was being read.

9Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people told all the people, “Today is a holy day to Yahweh your God. Do not mourn and do not cry.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the law.

10He said to them, “Go, eat rich dishes and drink sweet beverages, and send portions to whoever has nothing prepared, because this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be sorrowful, for the joy of Yahweh is your stronghold.”

11The Levites quieted all the people, telling them, “Hush, for the day is holy. Do not be sorrowful.”

12Then all the people went off to eat and drink, to send out portions, and to hold a great celebration, for they had grasped the words that had been made known to them.

13The next day the heads of the families of all the people, together with the priests and the Levites, assembled around Ezra the scribe to gain insight into the words of the law.

14In the law that Yahweh had commanded through Moses, they found it written that the Israelites were to live in booths during the festival in the seventh month,

15and that they were to spread the word and send out a proclamation through all their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive trees and wild olive trees, from myrtles, from palms, and from other trees with thick leaves, to make booths, as it is written.”

16The people went out, brought the branches back, and built booths for themselves—everyone on their own rooftop, and in their courtyards, in the courts of God’s house, in the square by the Water Gate, and in the square by the Ephraim Gate.

17The entire assembly of those who had come back from captivity built booths and lived in them, for the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua son of Nun down to that day. Their joy was very great.

18Ezra read from the book of the law of God every day, from the first day through the last. They kept the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held a closing assembly, as the ordinance prescribed.