Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and with their hands uplifted(A) all the people said, “Amen, Amen!” (B) Then they knelt low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.(C)

Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah,(D) who were Levites,[a](E) explained the law(F) to the people as they stood in their places. They read out of the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 8:7 Vg, 1 Esdras 9:48; MT reads Pelaiah and the Levites

Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands(A) and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

The Levites(B)—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed(C) the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear[a] and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 8:8 Or God, translating it