1 And when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their towns. And all the people came together like one man into the wide place in front of the water-doorway; and they made a request to Ezra the scribe that he would put before them the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 And Ezra the priest put the law before the meeting of the people, before the men and women and all those who were able to take it in, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He was reading it in the wide place in front of the water-doorway, from early morning till the middle of the day, in the hearing of all those men and women whose minds were able to take it in; and the ears of all the people were open to the book of the law. 4 And Ezra the scribe took his place on a tower of wood which they had made for the purpose; and by his side were placed Mattithiah and Shema and Anaiah and Uriah and Hilkiah and Maaseiah on the right; and on the left, Pedaiah and Mishael and Malchijah and Hashum and Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam. 5 And Ezra took the book, opening it before the eyes of all the people (for he was higher than the people); and when it was open, all the people got to their feet: 6 And Ezra gave praise to the Lord, the great God. And all the people in answer said, So be it, so be it; lifting up their hands; and with bent heads they gave worship to the Lord, going down on their faces to the earth. 7 And Jeshua and Bani and Sherebiah and Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites made the law clear to the people: and the people kept in their places. 8 And they gave out the words of the book the law of God, clearly, and gave the sense of it, so that their minds were able to take it in. 9 And Nehemiah, who was the Tirshatha, and Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were the teachers of the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God; let there be no sorrow or weeping; for all the people were weeping on hearing the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, Go away now, and take the fat for your food and the sweet for your drink, and send some to him for whom nothing is made ready: for this day is holy to our Lord: and let there be no grief in your hearts; for the joy of the Lord is your strong place. 11 So the Levites made all the people quiet, saying, Be quiet, for the day is holy; and do not give way to grief. 12 And all the people went away to take food and drink, and to send food to others, and to be glad, because the words which were said to them had been made clear. 13 And on the second day the heads of families of all the people and the priests and the Levites came together to Ezra the scribe, to give attention to the words of the law. 14 And they saw that it was recorded in the law that the Lord had given orders by Moses, that the children of Israel were to have tents for their living-places in the feast of the seventh month: 15 And that they were to give out an order, and make it public in all their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, Go out to the mountain and get olive branches and branches of field olives and of myrtle, and palm branches and branches of thick trees, to make tents, as it says in the book. 16 And the people went out and got them and made themselves tents, every one on the roof of his house, and in the open spaces and in the open squares of the house of God, and in the wide place of the water-doorway, and the wide place of the doorway of Ephraim. 17 All the people who had been prisoners and had come back, made tents and were living in them: for from the time of Jeshua, the son of Nun, till that day, the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great joy. 18 And day by day, from the first day till the last, he was reading from the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast for seven days: and on the eighth day there was a holy meeting, as it is ordered in the law.
Nehemiah · Bible in Basic English
Nehemiah 8 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Akkub
Akkub is named among the gatekeepers, with Shallum as their chief (1 Chronicles 9:17).
Cited in the guide: 1 Chronicles 9:17; Nehemiah 8:7
Anaiah
Stood at Ezra’s right side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Azariah
Levite named Azariah in the Levites who instructed the people in the Law (Nehemiah 8:7). The lists do not say whether same-named Levites in different lists are one man.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:7
Bani
Levite named Bani in the Levites who taught the Law, led confession and sealed the covenant (Nehemiah 8:7, 9:4-5, 10:13). The lists do not say whether same-named Levites in…
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 9:4; Nehemiah 9:5
Hanan
Levite named Hanan in the Levites who taught the Law and sealed the covenant. The lists do not say whether same-named Levites in different lists are one man.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 10:10
Hash-baddanah
Stood at Ezra’s left side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Hashum
Stood at Ezra’s left side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Hilkiah
Stood at Ezra’s right side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Hodiah
Levite named Hodiah in the Levites who taught the Law, led prayer and sealed the covenant. The lists do not say whether same-named Levites in different lists are one man.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 9:5; Nehemiah 10:10
Jamin
Levite named Jamin in the Levites who instructed the people in the Law (Nehemiah 8:7). The lists do not say whether same-named Levites in different lists are one man.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:7
Jeshua
Levite who returned with Zerubbabel, supervised the temple work with Kadmiel, taught the people the Law, and led the confession and blessing. The list in Neh 10:9 names a Jeshua…
Cited in the guide: Ezra 2:40; Ezra 3:9; Nehemiah 8:7
Jozabad
Levite named Jozabad in the Levites who taught the Law, and among the leaders who supervised work outside the house of God. The lists do not say whether same-named Levites in…
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 11:16
Kelita
Levite named Kelita in the Levites who taught the Law and sealed the covenant. The lists do not say whether same-named Levites in different lists are one man.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 10:10
Maaseiah
Stood at Ezra’s right side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Maaseiah
Levite named Maaseiah in the Levites who instructed the people in the Law (Nehemiah 8:7). The lists do not say whether same-named Levites in different lists are one man.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:7
Malchijah
Stood at Ezra’s left side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Mattithiah
Stood at Ezra’s right side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Meshullam
Stood at Ezra’s left side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Mishael
Stood at Ezra’s left side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Nehemiah
Son of Hacaliah and cupbearer to Artaxerxes at Susa; grieved over Jerusalem, was sent as governor, rebuilt the wall in 52 days despite opposition, led the covenant renewal, and…
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 1:1; Nehemiah 8:9; Nehemiah 10:1
Pedaiah
Stood at Ezra’s left side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Pelaiah
Levite named Pelaiah in the Levites who taught the Law and sealed the covenant. The lists do not say whether same-named Levites in different lists are one man.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 10:10
Shabbethai
Levite who supported the opposition to the plan in Ezra 10:15; a Levite of this name also helps explain the Law (Neh 8:7) and supervises work outside the temple (Neh 11:16).
Cited in the guide: Ezra 10:15; Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 11:16
Shema
Stood at Ezra’s right side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Sherebiah
A man of insight from the line of Mahli son of Levi, brought to Ezra with 18 sons and brothers; he was set apart to guard the silver and gold. A Levite of this name also teaches…
Cited in the guide: Ezra 8:18; Ezra 8:24; Nehemiah 8:7
Uriah
Stood at Ezra’s right side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Zechariah
Stood at Ezra’s left side on the wooden platform when he read the Law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 8:4
Cross references (18)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ezra 7:6; 2 Chronicles 34:15; Nehemiah 3:26; Matthew 13:52; Ezra 3:1–13
- 2 Leviticus 23:24; Malachi 2:7; Numbers 29:1; Isaiah 28:9; Acts 15:21
- 3 Revelation 3:22; Luke 4:16–20; Hebrews 2:1–3; Revelation 2:29; Acts 28:23
- 4 Nehemiah 10:18; Nehemiah 10:25; Ezra 10:33; Ezra 10:29; Nehemiah 10:3
- 5 Judges 3:20; 1 Kings 8:14; Luke 4:16–17
- 6 1 Timothy 2:8; Lamentations 3:41; Exodus 4:31; 2 Chronicles 20:18; Revelation 7:11
- 7 Nehemiah 9:4; Leviticus 10:11; Nehemiah 3:23; Ezra 10:22–23; Malachi 2:7
- 8 Luke 24:45; Acts 28:23; Acts 17:2–3; Luke 24:32; Acts 8:30–35
- 9 Nehemiah 7:65; Nehemiah 7:70; Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 16:11; Nehemiah 8:2
- 10 Psalm 28:7–8; Proverbs 17:22; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9; Ecclesiastes 9:7; Isaiah 12:1–3
- 11 Numbers 13:30
- 12 Psalm 119:174; Psalm 119:171; Psalm 119:72; Luke 24:32; Nehemiah 8:7–8
- 13 Proverbs 8:33–34; Proverbs 12:1; Proverbs 2:1–6; Acts 4:1; 2 Chronicles 30:23
- 14 Leviticus 23:34; Leviticus 23:40–43; Deuteronomy 16:13–15; Zechariah 14:16–19; John 7:2
- 15 Leviticus 23:40; Deuteronomy 16:16; Leviticus 23:4; Judges 9:48–49; Genesis 8:11
- 16 Nehemiah 12:39; 2 Kings 14:13; Nehemiah 3:26; Nehemiah 12:37; Nehemiah 8:3
- 17 2 Chronicles 8:13; 2 Chronicles 7:8–10; Ezra 3:4; John 1:14; Hebrews 11:9
- 18 Leviticus 23:36; Numbers 29:35; Deuteronomy 31:10–13; John 7:37
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences