¹⁶ Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication^(A) of the house of God with joy.

¹⁷ For the dedication of this house of God they offered^(A) a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering^[a] for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel.

Ezra Reads the Law

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,^(C)