The People Respond to the Reading of the Law When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites were settled in their cities, all the people gathered together in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had commanded Israel.
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard.(This happened on the first day of the seventh month.)
3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon before the men and women and those children who could understand. All the people were eager to hear the book of the law.
4 Ezra the scribe stood on a towering wooden platform constructed for this purpose. Standing near him on his right were Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Masseiah. On his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
5 Ezra opened the book in plain view of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people. When he opened the book, all the people stood up.
6 Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people replied“Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
7 Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah– all of whom were Levites– were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing.
8 They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it and imparting insight. Thus the people gained understanding from what was read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priestly scribe, and the Levites who were imparting understanding to 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 had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.
12 So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food with others and to enjoy tremendous joy, for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.
13 On the second day of the month the family leaders met with Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law.
14 They discovered written in the law that the LORD had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month,
15 and that they should make a proclamation and disseminate this message in all their cities and in Jerusalem:“Go to the hill country and bring back olive branches and branches of wild olive trees, myrtle trees, date palms, and other leafy trees to construct temporary shelters, as it is written.”
16 So the people went out and brought these things back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate.
17 So all the assembly which had returned from the exile constructed temporary shelters and lived in them. The Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. Everyone experienced very great joy.
18 Ezra read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last. They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly as was required.
1 The Altar is Rebuilt When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites were living in their towns, the people assembled in Jerusalem.
2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his priestly colleagues and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues started to build the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by the law of Moses the man of God.
7 A proclamation was circulated throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles were to be assembled in Jerusalem.
8 Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
9 All the men of Judah and Benjamin were gathered in Jerusalem within the three days.(It was in the ninth month, on the twentieth day of that month.) All the people sat in the square at the temple of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the rains.
6 This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the LORD God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.
1 The People Confess Their Sins While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites– men, women, and children alike– gathered around him. The people wept loudly.
10 Now Ezra had dedicated himself to the study of the law of the LORD, to its observance, and to teaching its statutes and judgments in Israel.
11 Artaxerxes Gives Official Endorsement to Ezra’s Mission What follows is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe. Ezra was a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the LORD and his statutes over Israel:
28 “Now the rest of the people– the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand–
29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders and enter into a curse and an oath to adhere to the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, along with his ordinances and his statutes.
1 The King Institutes Religious Reform The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.
2 The king went up to the LORD’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the LORD’s temple.
30 The king went up to the LORD’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the Levites. All the people were there, from the oldest to the youngest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the LORD’s temple.
12 Gather the people– men, women, and children, as well as the resident foreigners in your villages– so they may hear and thus learn about and fear the LORD your God and carefully obey all the words of this law.
5 So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan. And they all took a solemn oath.
15 The Exiles Travel to Jerusalem I had them assemble at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there.
3 For one-fourth of the day they stood in their place and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God, and for another fourth they were confessing their sins and worshiping the LORD their God.
4 Then the Levites– Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani– stood on the steps and called out loudly to the LORD their God.
25 “Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess, appoint judges and court officials who can arbitrate cases on behalf of all the people who are in Trans-Euphrates who know the laws of your God. Those who do not know this law should be taught.
26 Everyone who does not observe both the law of your God and the law of the king will be completely liable to the appropriate penalty, whether it is death or banishment or confiscation of property or detainment in prison.”
1 Civil War Breaks Out All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba and from the land of Gilead left their homes and assembled together before the LORD at Mizpah.
3 and assemble the whole congregation at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.”
34 Then Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll.
4 He brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the square on the east side.
12 All the assembly replied in a loud voice:“We will do just as you have said!
13 However, the people are numerous and it is the rainy season. We are unable to stand here outside. Furthermore, this business cannot be resolved in a day or two, for we have sinned greatly in this matter.
36 Then they presented the decrees of the king to the king’s satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who gave help to the people and to the temple of God.
8 All Israel rose up in unison and said,“Not one of us will go home! Not one of us will return to his house!
21 “I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of Trans-Euphrates, that you precisely execute all that Ezra the priestly scribe of the law of the God of heaven may request of you–
5 The Exiles Prepare to Return to Jerusalem Then the leaders of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites– all those whose mind God had stirred– got ready to go up in order to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem.
3 Therefore let us enact a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, and that of those who respect the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.