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Therefore [was] he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and [that] they might have [matter] for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard [of it], and all the heathen that [were] about us saw [these things], they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought by our God.

For [there were] many in Judah sworn to him, because he [was] the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he [was] a faithful man, and feared God above many.

And of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai, who took [one] of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite for a wife, and was called after their name.

And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, [and] Meshullam.

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:

And Nehemiah, who [is] the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said to all the people, This day [is] holy to the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared: for [this] day [is] holy to our Lord: neither be ye sad; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day [is] holy; neither be ye grieved.

And all the congregation of them that had returned from the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day, had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up [and] bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him, to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give [it], [I say], to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou [art] righteous:

And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as [it is] this day.

And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

Nevertheless, for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou [art] a gracious and merciful God.

But thou [art] just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

Behold, we [are] servants this day, and [for] the land that thou gavest to our fathers to eat the fruit of it and the good of it, behold, we [are] servants in it: