1All the people gathered together as one man in the open square in front of the water gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
2So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly. There were men and women there, and all who could listen and understand.
3He read from it in the open square in front of the water gate, from the morning until midday. He read in front of the men and the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened carefully to the book of the law.
4Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform which they had made for this purpose. Beside him on his right hand stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah. On his left hand stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchiah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
5Ezra opened the book where all the people could see it, for he was standing higher than all the people. When he opened it, all the people stood up.
6Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people lifted up their hands and answered, "Amen, Amen." Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
7Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites helped the people to understand the law, and the people stayed in their places.
8So they read clearly from the book, from the law of God, and explained the meaning, so that the people understood what was read.
9Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.
10Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat rich food and drink sweet drinks, and send helpings to those who have nothing prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
11So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy. Do not grieve."
12So all the people went their way to eat and to drink, and to send helpings to others, and to celebrate with great joy, because they had understood the words that were made known to them.
13On the second day the heads of the families of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, gathered to Ezra the scribe to study the words of the law.
14They found it written in the law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the children of Israel should live in shelters during the feast of the seventh month.
15They were to announce and proclaim it in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the hills and bring olive branches, pine branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make shelters, as it is written."
16So the people went out and brought them, and made shelters for themselves. Each one made one on the roof of his house, and in their courtyards, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the water gate, and in the open square of the gate of Ephraim.
17The whole assembly of those who had come back from captivity made shelters and sat under them. Since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun until that day, the children of Israel had not done this. And there was very great gladness.
18Day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the book of the law of God. They kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, as the rule required.