Study Desk

Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and with their hands uplifted, all the people said, "Amen, Amen!" Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

So 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.

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, "This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.

And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the court of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim.

Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. The Israelites kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly, according to the ordinance.

While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

And 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.

Then the Levites-Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah-said: "Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: 'Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

Even after they had cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, "This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt," and they had committed terrible blasphemies,

But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

"The rest of the people-the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the people of the land to obey the law of God-along with their wives and all their sons and daughters who were able to understand,

hereby join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the Law of God given through His servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes of the LORD our Lord.

We also place ourselves under the obligation to contribute a third of a shekel yearly for the service of the house of our God:

for the showbread, for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings, for the Sabbath offerings, for the New Moon and appointed feasts, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the duties of the house of our God.

We have cast lots among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our families at the appointed times each year. They are to bring it to the house of our God to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.

And we will bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as it is written in the Law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God.

Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil. A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor.