8:1 And all the people assembled as one man in the street that
[was] before the water-gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe
to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had
commanded to Israel.
8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation
both of men and women, and all that could hear with
understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
8:3 And he read therein before the street that [was] before the
water-gate from the morning until mid-day, before the men and
the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all
the people [were attentive] to the book of the law.
8:4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they
had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and
Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on
his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and
Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, [and]
Meshullam.
8:5 And Ezra 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 up:
8:6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people
answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting their hands: and they bowed
their heads, and worshiped the LORD with [their] faces to the
ground.
8:7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub,
Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan,
Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the
law: and the people [stood] in their place.
8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and
gave the sense, and caused [them] to understand the reading.
8:9 And Nehemiah, who [is] the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest,
the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said to all
the people, This day [is] holy to the LORD your God; mourn not,
nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of
the law.
8:10 Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink
the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is
prepared: for [this] day [is] holy to our LORD: neither be ye
sad; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
8:11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your
peace, for the day [is] holy; neither be ye grieved.
8:12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and
to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had
understood the words that were declared to them.
8:13 And on the second day were assembled the chief of the
fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to
Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.
8:14 And they found written in the law which the LORD had
commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in
booths in the feast of the seventh month:
8:15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their
cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mount, and
fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches,
and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths,
as [it is] written.
8:16 So the people went forth, and brought [them], and made
themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in
their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the
street of the water-gate, and in the street of the gate of
Ephraim.
8:17 And all the congregation of them that had returned from the
captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the
days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day, had not the children
of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
8:18 Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he
read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast
seven days; and on the eighth day [was] a solemn assembly,
according to the manner.
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