Nehemiah 8:6-8

Good News Translation

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.

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. ⁸They gave an oral translation^[a] of God's Law and explained^[b] it so that the people could understand it.

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Footnotes

Nehemiah 8:8 The Law was written in Hebrew, but in Babylonia the Jews had adopted Aramaic as the language for daily life. Because of this a translation was necessary.
Nehemiah 8:8 They gave … explained; or They read God's Law and then translated it, explaining.