When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites1 were in their cities, 8:1 all the people were gathered together2 in the plaza which was in front of the Gate of Waters. They asked3 Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had commanded Israel. 8:2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. This happened on the first day of the seventh month. 8:3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Gate of Water from dawn till noon4 before the men and women and those who could understand. All the people were eager to hear5 the book of the law.
8:4 Ezra the scribe stood on a towering platform6 which had been constructed for this purpose. Standing near him on his right side were Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Masseiah. On his left side were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 8:5 Ezra opened the book in plain view7 of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people. When he opened the book, all the people stood. 8:6 Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people replied “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
8:7 Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—all of whom were Levites8—were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing. 8:8 They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it and imparting insight. Thus the people9 gained understanding from the reading.
8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor,10 Ezra the priestly scribe,11 and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them,12 “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law. 8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
8:11 Then the Levites quieted all the people saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not grieve.” 8:12 So all the people departed in order to eat and to drink and to send portions to others13 and to enjoy tremendous joy,14 for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.
8:13 On the second day of the month the family leaders15 were gathered to Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, in order to consider the words of the law. 8:14 They discovered written in the law that the LORD had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in huts during the festival of the seventh month 8:15 and that they should make proclamation and disseminate the message in all their cities and in Jerusalem saying, “Go to the hill country and bring back olive leaves and leaves of wild olive trees and leaves of myrtle trees and leaves of date-palms and leaves of leafy trees in order to construct huts, as it is written.”
8:16 So the people went out and brought these things back and constructed for themselves huts, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of God’s temple16 and in the plaza of the Gate of Water and in the plaza of the Gate of Ephraim. 8:17 So all the assembly which had returned from the exile constructed huts and lived in those huts. The Israelites had not so done from the days of Joshua the son of Nun till that day. Very great joy was present. 8:18 Ezra17 read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last.18 They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly19 as was required.20