Ezra Reads the Law

8 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before ^tthe Water Gate. And they told ^uEzra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest ^vbrought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, ^won the first day of the seventh month. 3 ^xAnd 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, ^y“Amen, Amen,” ^zlifting up their hands. ^aAnd they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 ^bAlso Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites,^{1 c}helped the people to understand the Law, ^dwhile the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly,² and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

9 And Nehemiah, who was ^ethe governor, and Ezra ^fthe priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ^g“This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^hdo 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 ⁱsend 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 ^jthey 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 ^kthat the people of Israel should dwell in booths³ during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should proclaim it and ^lpublish it in all their towns and ^min Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring ⁿbranches 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 ^oon his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at ^pthe Water Gate and in the square at ^qthe 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 ^rthe people of Israel had not done so. And there was ^svery great rejoicing. 18 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, ^the read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and ^uon the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

The People of Israel Confess Their Sin

9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of ^vthis month the people of Israel were assembled ^wwith fasting ^xand in sackcloth, ^yand with earth on their heads. 2 ^zAnd the Israelites¹ separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 ^aAnd 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 ^bJeshua, 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. ^cBlessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 ^d“You are the Lord, you alone. ^eYou have made heaven, ^fthe heaven of heavens, ^gwith all their host, ^ethe earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; ^hand you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7 You are the Lord, the God ⁱwho chose Abram and brought him out of ^jUr of the Chaldeans ^kand gave him the name Abraham. 8 ^lYou found his heart faithful before you, ^mand made with him the covenant to give to his offspring ⁿthe land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. ^oAnd you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

9 ^p“And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard ^qtheir cry at the Red Sea, 10 ^rand performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that ^sthey acted arrogantly against our fathers. And ^tyou made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 ^uAnd 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, ^vas a stone into mighty waters. 12 By ^wa 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 ^xYou came down on Mount Sinai ^yand spoke with them from heaven and gave them ^zright rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14 ^aand you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. 15 ^bYou gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and ^cbrought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you ^dtold them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

16 “But they and our fathers ^eacted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey ^fand 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.³ But you are a God ready to forgive, ^ggracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18 Even ^hwhen they had made for themselves a golden⁴ calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ ⁱand had committed great blasphemies, 19 you ^jin your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. ^kThe pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, ^knor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 ^lYou gave your good Spirit to instruct them ^mand did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 ⁿForty 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. ^oSo they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon ^pand the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their children ^qas the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24 ^rSo the descendants went in and possessed the land, ^sand 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 ^tfortified cities and ^ua rich land, and took possession of ^vhouses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled ^wand became fat and delighted themselves in ^xyour great goodness.

26 ^y“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you ^zand cast your law behind their back ^aand killed your prophets, who ^bhad warned them in order to turn them back to you, ^cand they committed great blasphemies. 27 ^dTherefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. ^eAnd 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 ^fsaviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. 28 ^gBut 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, ^hand many times you delivered them according to your mercies. 29 ^bAnd you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet ⁱthey acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, ^jwhich if a person does them, he shall live by them, ^kand they turned a stubborn shoulder ^land stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30 Many years ^myou bore with them ⁿand warned them ^oby your Spirit through your prophets. ^pYet they would not give ear. ^qTherefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 Nevertheless, ^rin your great mercies ^syou did not make an end of them or forsake them, ^tfor you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 “Now, therefore, our God, ^uthe 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, ^vsince the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 ^wYet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully ^xand 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, ^yand amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and ^yrich land that you set before them, ^zthey did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36 Behold, ^awe 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 ^bAnd 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 “Because of all this ^cwe make a firm covenant in writing; on ^dthe sealed document are the names of⁶ our princes, our Levites, and our priests.

The People Who Sealed the Covenant

10 ^e“On the seals are the names of¹ Nehemiah ^fthe governor, ^gthe son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 ^hSeraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 ⁱHattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: ^jJeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of ^kHenadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: ^lParosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

The Obligations of the Covenant

28 ^m“The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, ⁿand all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, 29 join with their brothers, their nobles, ^oand enter into a curse and an oath ^pto walk in God’s Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. 30 ^qWe will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 ^rAnd if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the ^sseventh year and the ^texaction of every debt.

32 “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly ^ua third part of a shekel² for the service of the house of our God: 33 ^vfor the showbread, ^wthe regular grain offering, ^wthe regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34 ^xWe, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots ^yfor the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, ^zas it is written in the Law. 35 We obligate ourselves ^ato bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; 36 also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, ^bas it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; 37 ^cand to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, ^dto the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. 38 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of ^ethe storehouse. 39 For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi ^fshall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. ^gWe will not neglect the house of our God.”

The Leaders in Jerusalem

11 Now the leaders of the people ^hlived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people ⁱcast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem ^jthe holy city, while nine out of ten¹ remained in the other towns. 2 And the people blessed all the men ^kwho willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

3 ^lThese are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah ^meveryone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, ⁿthe temple servants, ^oand the descendants of Solomon’s servants. 4 And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of ^pPerez; 5 and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite. 6 All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.

7 And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, 8 and his brothers, men of valor, 928.² 9 Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.

10 Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, 11 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God, 12 and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, 13 and his brothers, heads of fathers’ houses, 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, 14 and their brothers, mighty men of valor, 128; their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

15 And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; 16 and Shabbethai and ^qJozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over ^rthe outside work of the house of God; 17 and ^sMattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise,³ who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. 18 All the Levites in ^tthe holy city were 284.

19 The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172. 20 And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, ^uevery one in his inheritance. 21 ^vBut the temple servants lived on Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.

22 The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God. 23 ^wFor there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, ^xas every day required. 24 And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king’s side⁴ in all matters concerning the people.

Villages Outside Jerusalem

25 And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in ^yKiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, 26 and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet, 27 in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its villages, 28 in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, 29 in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, 30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to ^zthe Valley of Hinnom. 31 The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, 32 Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35 Lod, and ^aOno, the valley of craftsmen. 36 And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were assigned to Benjamin.

Priests and Levites

12 These are ^bthe priests and the Levites who came up with ^cZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and ^dJeshua: ^eSeraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.