Study Desk

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.

Then Nehemiah, 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.

Then Ezra said to them, "Go [your way], eat the rich festival food, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be worried, for the joy of the LORD is your strength and your stronghold."

So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be worried."

So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on the roof of his house, and in their courtyards and the courtyards of God's house, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the square of the Gate of Ephraim.

Every day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days; on the eighth day there was a [closing] solemn assembly in accordance with the ordinance.

While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day and for another fourth [of it] they confessed [their sins] and worshiped the LORD their God.

"You found his heart to be faithful before You, And You made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite, of the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite— To give it to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous and just.

"Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that they behaved arrogantly toward them (the Israelites), And You made a name for Yourself, as it is to this day.

"And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light the way for them In which they were to go.

"You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought water for them out of a rock for their thirst, And You told them to enter and take possession of The land that You swore to give them.

"Even when they had made for themselves A calf of cast metal And said, 'This is your god Who brought you up from Egypt,' And committed great [and contemptible] blasphemies,

You, in Your great mercy and compassion, Did not abandon them in the wilderness; The pillar of the cloud did not leave them by day, To lead them in the way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way they should go.

"You [also] gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.

"Indeed, for forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

"Yet You were patient with them for many years, And admonished them and warned them by Your Spirit through Your prophets; Still they would not listen. Therefore You gave them into the hand (power) of the peoples of the lands.

"Yet in Your great compassion You did not utterly destroy them or abandon them, For You are a gracious and merciful God.

"However, You are just and righteous in everything that has come upon us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.

"Behold, we are slaves today, And as for the land which You gave our fathers, to eat of its fruit and its goodness, Behold, we are slaves in it.

"Its abundant produce is for the kings Whom You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress.