Nehemiah 8

⁶this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.

¹⁵And Hilkiah said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord!” And he gave it to Shaphan.

²⁶and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the tower that juts out.

⁵²Then He told them, “For this reason, every scribe who has been discipled in the kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

¹By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.

²Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.

¹¹This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in the commandments and statutes of the Lord to Israel:

²⁴“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly announced by trumpet blasts.

⁷For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts.

¹“On the first day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This will be a day for you to sound the trumpets.

⁹Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?

²¹For Moses has been proclaimed in every city from ancient times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

¹⁸When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

²²He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

¹⁶Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read,

¹⁷the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:

¹We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

²For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment,

²⁹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

²³So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying. He expounded to them from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

³⁷David himself calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?” And the large crowd listened to Him with delight.

¹⁸Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,

²⁵Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,

³³From the descendants of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.

²⁹From the descendants of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.

³Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,

²⁰Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,

²⁰Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.

¹⁴And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all

¹⁶Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read,

¹⁷the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:

⁸Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.

⁴¹Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

³¹and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.

¹⁸Then Jehoshaphat bowed facedown, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down before the Lord to worship Him.

¹¹And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,

²⁶Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord,

⁴And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the Lord their God.

¹¹so that you may teach the Israelites all the statutes that the Lord has given them through Moses.”

²³Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house, and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house.

²²From the descendants of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³Among the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

⁷For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts.

¹⁶Shabbethai and Jozabad, two leaders of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God;

⁴⁵Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

²³So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying. He expounded to them from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

²As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared.

³²They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

³⁰So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

³¹“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

²Then the Lord answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.

⁶⁵The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest to consult the Urim and Thummim.

⁷⁰Some of the heads of the families contributed to the project. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments.

¹²And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

¹¹and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

²On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could listen and understand.

¹⁴And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹⁵For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place He will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.

⁷The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I give thanks to Him with my song.

⁸The Lord is the strength of His people, a stronghold of salvation for His anointed.

²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

⁷Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:

¹In that day you will say: “O Lord, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.

²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”

¹⁰I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

³⁰Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!”

¹⁷⁴I long for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight.

¹⁷¹My lips pour forth praise, for You teach me Your statutes.

⁷²The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.

³²They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

⁷The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law as they stood in their places.

⁸So they read from the Book of the Law of God, explaining it and giving insight, so that the people could understand what was being read.

⁹⁷Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation.

³³Listen to instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.

³⁴Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my doorway.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

¹My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,

²if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

¹While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

²³The whole assembly agreed to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy.

³³But many people saw them leaving and recognized them. They ran together on foot from all the towns and arrived before them.

³⁴When Jesus stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things.

³⁴“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the Lord begins, and it continues for seven days.

⁴⁰On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

⁴¹You are to celebrate this as a feast to the Lord for seven days each year. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come; you are to celebrate it in the seventh month.

¹³You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.

¹⁴And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹⁶Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

¹⁷And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, then the rain will not fall on them.

²However, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near.

¹⁷but Jacob went on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.

⁴⁰On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

¹⁶Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Lord your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed.

⁴These are the Lord’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times.

⁴⁸he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his axe in his hand and cut a branch from the trees, which he lifted to his shoulder, saying to his men, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”

⁴⁹So each man also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. Then they piled the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire above them, killing everyone in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women.

¹¹And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

¹As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two disciples,

³⁹over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.

¹³There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.

²⁶and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the tower that juts out.

³⁷At the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.

³So Ezra read it aloud from daybreak until noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate, in front of the men and women and those who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

²⁹And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

¹³He observed the daily requirement for offerings according to the commandment of Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

⁸So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast for seven days.

⁹On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar had lasted seven days, and the feast seven days more.

⁴They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

⁹By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

³⁶For seven days you are to present a food offering to the Lord. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work.

³⁵On the eighth day you are to hold a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work.

¹⁰Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of remission of debt, during the Feast of Tabernacles,

¹¹when all Israel comes before the Lord your God at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel.

³⁷On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.