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Friday, June 13th, 2025
the Week of Proper 5 / Ordinary 10
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Read the Bible

Good News Translation

Nehemiah 8:5

As Ezra stood there on the platform high above the people, they all kept their eyes fixed on him. As soon as he opened the book, they all stood up.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Commandments;   Feasts;   Law;   Repentance;   Synagogue;   Word of God;   Worship;   Thompson Chain Reference - Ezra;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Church of Israel;   Scribes;   Synagogues;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ezra;   Synagogue;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Priest;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Preaching;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Canon of the Old Testament;   Church;   Nehemiah, the Book of;   Priest;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Nehemiah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Canon of the Old Testament;   Ezra;   Ezra, Book of;   Malachi;   Synagogue;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ezra ;   Scribes;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Ezra;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Babylonish Captivity, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Trumpets, Feast of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Education;   Homiletics;   Law, Reading from the;   Liturgy;   Torah;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was elevated above everyone. As he opened it, all the people stood up.
Hebrew Names Version
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:
King James Version
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:
English Standard Version
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.
New Century Version
Ezra opened the book in full view of everyone, because he was above them. As he opened it, all the people stood up.
New English Translation
Ezra opened the book in plain view of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people. When he opened the book, all the people stood up.
Amplified Bible
Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above them; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
New American Standard Bible
Then Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
World English Bible
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:
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Ezra opened the booke before all the people: for hee was aboue all the people: and when he opened it, all the people stoode vp.
Legacy Standard Bible
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was standing above them all, and as he opened it, all the people stood up.
Contemporary English Version
Ezra was up on the high platform, where he could be seen by everyone, and when he opened the book, they all stood up.
Complete Jewish Bible
‘Ezra opened the scroll where all the people could see him, because he was higher than all the people; when he opened it, all the people rose to their feet.
Darby Translation
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.
Easy-to-Read Version
So Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them on the high stage. As he opened the Book of the Law, all the people stood up.
George Lamsa Translation
And Ezra opened the book of the law in the sight of all the people (for he was above all the people), and when he opened it all the people stood up;
Lexham English Bible
Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, because he was above all of the people. When he opened it all the people stood up.
Literal Translation
And Ezra opened the book to the eyes of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And E?dras opened ye boke before all ye people, for he stode aboue all ye people. And whan he opened it, all the people stode vp.
American Standard Version
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.
Bible in Basic English
And Ezra took the book, opening it before the eyes of all the people (for he was higher than the people); and when it was open, all the people got to their feet:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Esdras opened the booke before all the people, (for he stoode aboue al the people:) and when he opened it, all the people stoode vp.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
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.
King James Version (1611)
And Ezra opened the booke in the sight of all the people (for hee was aboue al the people) and when he opened it, all the people stood vp:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Esdras opened the book before all the people, for he was above the people; and it came to pass when he had opened it, that all the people stood.
English Revised Version
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:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Esdras openyde the book bifor al the puple; for he apperide ouer al the puple; and whanne he hadde openyd the book, al the puple stood.
Update Bible Version
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:
Webster's Bible Translation
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:
New King James Version
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
New Living Translation
Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people. When they saw him open the book, they all rose to their feet.
New Life Bible
All the people saw Ezra open the book, for he was standing above all of them. And all the people stood up when he opened it.
New Revised Standard
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Ezra the scribe opened the book before the eyes of all the people, for, above all the people, was he, - and, when he opened it, all the people, stood up.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Esdras opened the book before all the people: for he was above all the people: and when he had opened it, all the people stood.
Revised Standard Version
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.
Young's Literal Translation
And Ezra openeth the book before the eyes of all the people -- for above all the people he hath been -- and at his opening [it] all the people have stood up,
THE MESSAGE
Ezra opened the book. Every eye was on him (he was standing on the raised platform) and as he opened the book everyone stood. Then Ezra praised God , the great God, and all the people responded, "Oh Yes! Yes!" with hands raised high. And then they fell to their knees in worship of God , their faces to the ground.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.

Contextual Overview

1 By the seventh month the people of Israel were all settled in their towns. On the first day of that month they all assembled in Jerusalem, in the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law which the Lord had given Israel through Moses, to get the book of the Law. 2 So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered—men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand. 3 There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively. 4 Ezra was standing on a wooden platform that had been built for the occasion. The following men stood at his right: Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and the following stood at his left: Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 As Ezra stood there on the platform high above the people, they all kept their eyes fixed on him. As soon as he opened the book, they all stood up. 6 Ezra said, "Praise the Lord , the great God!" All the people raised their arms in the air and answered, "Amen! Amen!" They knelt in worship, with their faces to the ground. 7 Then they rose and stood in their places, and the following Levites explained the Law to them: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah. 8 They gave an oral translation of God's Law and explained it so that the people could understand it.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

opened: Luke 4:16, Luke 4:17

sight: Heb. eyes

stood up: Judges 3:20, 1 Kings 8:14

Reciprocal: Joshua 22:33 - blessed 2 Chronicles 6:3 - all the congregation

Cross-References

Genesis 7:11
When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people (for he was above all the people),.... So plainly seen by them, and what he did, and the more easily heard, for which purpose the pulpit was made for him to stand in:

and, when he opened it, all the people stood up; that they might the better hear the law read, as well as in honour and reverence of it; the Jews say m, that from the times of Moses to Rabban Gamaliel, they learned the law only standing; but after his death a disease came into the world, and they learned it sitting; and now it is a canon with them, that it is not necessary to stand at the reading of the law n.

m T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 21. 1. n Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. Orach Chayim, c. 146. sect. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Stood up - The attitude of attention and respect. Compare the existing practice of the Christian Church at the reading of the Gospel for the day.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Nehemiah 8:5. All the people stood up — This was out of respect to the sacred word: in imitation of this, when the gospel for the day is read in our churches, all the people stand up.


 
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