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for many in Judah are sworn to him, for he [is] son-in-law to Shechaniah son of Arah, and Jehohanan his son hath taken the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah;

and I charge Hanani my brother, and Hananiah head of the palace, concerning Jerusalem -- for he [is] as a man of truth, and fearing God above many --

and my God putteth it unto my heart, and I gather the freeman, and the prefects, and the people, for the genealogy, and I find a book of the genealogy of those coming up at the beginning, and I find written in it: --

And Ezra the scribe standeth on a tower of wood that they made for the purpose, and Mattithiah standeth near him, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right; and on his left Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchijah, and Hashum, and Hashbaddana, Zechariah, Meshullam.

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,

And Nehemiah -- he [is] the Tirshatha -- saith (and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who are instructing the people) to all the people, `To-day is holy to Jehovah your God, do not mourn, nor weep:' for all the people are weeping at their hearing the words of the law.

And he saith to them, `Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and sent portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for to-day [is] holy to our Lord, and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.'

And the Levites are keeping all the people silent, saying, `Be silent, for to-day [is] holy, and be not grieved.'

And the people go out, and bring in, and make for themselves booths, each on his roof, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the broad place of the water-gate, and in the broad place of the gate of Ephraim.

And they make -- all the assembly of the captives of the captivity -- booths, and they sit in booths; for the sons of Israel had not done, from the days of Jeshua son of Nun, so unto that day, and there is very great joy.

and didst find his heart stedfast before Thee, so as to make with him the covenant, to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give [it] to his seed. `And Thou dost establish Thy words, for Thou [art] righteous,

and dost give signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land, for Thou hast known that they have acted proudly against them, and Thou makest to Thee a name as [at] this day.

And Thy holy sabbath Thou hast made known to them, and commands, and statutes, and law, Thou hast commanded for them, by the hand of Moses Thy servant;

and bread from the heavens Thou hast given to them for their hunger, and water from a rock hast brought out to them for their thirst, and dost say to them to go in to possess the land that Thou hast lifted up Thy hand to give to them.

`And Thy good Spirit Thou hast given, to cause them to act wisely; and Thy manna Thou hast not withheld from their mouth, and water Thou hast given to them for their thirst,

and in Thine abundant mercies Thou hast not made them a consumption, nor hast forsaken them; for a God, gracious and merciful, [art] Thou.

`And now, O our God -- God, the great, the mighty, and the fearful, keeping the covenant and the kindness -- let not all the travail that hath found us be little before Thee, for our kings, for our heads, and for our priests, and for our prophets, and for our fathers, and for all Thy people, from the days of the kings of Asshur unto this day;

and Thou [art] righteous concerning all that hath come upon us, for truth Thou hast done, and we have done wickedly;

And for all this we are making a stedfast covenant, and are writing, and over him who is sealed [are] our heads, our Levites, our priests.'

And we have appointed for ourselves commands, to put on ourselves the third of a shekel in a year, for the service of the house of our God,