Nehemiah 8:4 - Prayer Tents



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Nehemiah 8
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Ezra Reads the Law to the People

8By 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.H5971H622H259H376H7339H6440H4325H8179H559H5830H5608H935H5612H8451H4872H3068H6680H3478
2So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered - men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand.H5830H3548H935H8451H6440H6951H376H802H8085H995H259H3117H7637H2320
3There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively.H7121H6440H7339H6440H4325H8179H216H4276H3117H582H802H995H241H5971H5612H8451
4Ezra 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.H5830H5608H5975H4026H6086H6213H1697H681H5975H4993H8087H6043H223H2518H4641H3225H8040H6305H4332H4441H2828H2806H2148H4918
5As 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.H5830H6605H5612H5869H5971H5971H6605H5971H5975
6Ezra 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.H5830H1288H3068H1419H430H5971H6030H543H543H4607H3027H6915H7812H3068H639H776
7Then 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.H3442H1137H8274H3226H6126H7678H1941H4641H7042H5838H3107H2605H6411H3881H5971H995H8451H5971H5977
8They gave an oral translation of God's Law and explained it so that the people could understand it.H7121H5612H8451H430H6567H7760H7922H995H4744
9When the people heard what the Law required, they were so moved that they began to cry. So Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law, and the Levites who were explaining the Law told all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God, so you are not to mourn or cry.H5166H8660H5830H3548H5608H3881H995H5971H559H5971H3117H6918H3068H430H56H1058H5971H1058H8085H1697H8451
10Now go home and have a feast. Share your food and wine with those who don't have enough. Today is holy to our Lord, so don't be sad. The joy that the LORD gives you will make you strong."H559H3212H398H4924H8354H4477H7971H4490H3559H3117H6918H113H6087H2304H3068H4581
11The Levites went around calming the people and telling them not to be sad on such a holy day.H3881H2814H5971H559H2013H3117H6918H6087
12So all the people went home and ate and drank joyfully and shared what they had with others, because they understood what had been read to them.H5971H3212H398H8354H7971H4490H6213H1419H8057H995H1697H3045

The Festival of Shelters

13The next day the heads of the clans, together with the priests and the Levites, went to Ezra to study the teachings of the Law.H8145H3117H622H7218H1H5971H3548H3881H5830H5608H7919H1697H8451
14They discovered that the Law, which the LORD gave through Moses, ordered the people of Israel to live in temporary shelters during the Festival of Shelters.H4672H3789H8451H3068H6680H3027H4872H1121H3478H3427H5521H2282H7637H2320
15So they gave the following instructions and sent them all through Jerusalem and the other cities and towns: "Go out to the hills and get branches from pines, olives, myrtles, palms, and other trees to make shelters according to the instructions written in the Law."H8085H5674H6963H5892H3389H559H3318H2022H935H2132H5929H8081H6086H5929H1918H5929H8558H5929H5929H5687H6086H6213H5521H3789
16So the people got branches and built shelters on the flat roofs of their houses, in their yards, in the Temple courtyard, and in the public squares by the Water Gate and by the Ephraim Gate.H5971H3318H935H6213H5521H376H1406H2691H2691H1004H430H7339H4325H8179H7339H8179H669
17All the people who had come back from captivity built shelters and lived in them. This was the first time it had been done since the days of Joshua son of Nun, and everybody was excited and happy.H6951H7725H7628H6213H5521H3427H5521H3117H3442H1121H5126H3117H1121H3478H6213H3966H1419H8057
18From the first day of the festival to the last they read a part of God's Law every day. They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a closing ceremony, as required in the Law.H3117H3117H7223H3117H314H3117H7121H5612H8451H430H6213H2282H7651H3117H8066H3117H6116H4941


Good News Translation. Scripture taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. More details.
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