Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Nehemiah, chapters 8 through 10. Chapter 8 Now
all the people gathered together as one man in
the open square that was in front of the water
gate, and they told Ezra the scribe to bring
the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord
had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought
the law before the assembly of men and women,
and all who could hear with understanding, on
the first day of the seventh month. Then he read
from it in the open square that was in front
of the water gate, from morning until midday,
before the men and women, and those who could
understand, and the ears of all the people were
attentive to the book of the law. So Ezra the
scribe stood on a platform of wood, which they
had made for the purpose, and beside him, at
his right hand, stood Metithia, Shema, Ananiah,
Orisha, And at his left hand, And Ezra opened
the book in the sight of all the people, for
he was standing above all the people. And when
he opened it, all the people stood up, and Ezra
blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the
people answered, While lifting up their hands,
and they bowed their heads and worshipped the
Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua,
Bani, Sherebiah, Jameen, Akub, Shabitai, Hodesia,
Masiah, Kelita, Azariah, Josabath, Hanan, Pelaiah,
and the Levites helped the people to understand
the law, and the people stood in their place.
So they read distinctly from the book in the
law of God, and they gave the sense and helped
them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah
who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe,
And the Levites, who taught the people, said
to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord
your God. Do not mourn nor weep. For all the
people wept when they heard the words of the
law. Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the
fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those
for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is
holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy
of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites
quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for
the day is holy, do not be grieved. And all the
people who went their way to eat and drink, to
send portions and rejoice greatly, because they
understood the words that were declared to them.
Now on the second day the heads of the fathers'
houses of all the people, with the priests and
Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe in
order to understand the words of the law. And
they found written in the law, which the Lord
had commanded by Moses, that the children of
Israel should dwell in booth during the feast
of the seventh month, and that they should announce
and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem,
saying, Go out to the mountain and bring olive
branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches,
palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to
make booths, as it is written. Then the people
went out and brought them and made themselves
booth, each one on the roof of his house, or
in their courtyards, or the courts of the house
of God, and in the open square of the gate of
Ephraim. So the whole assembly of those who had
returned from the captivity made booth and sat
under the booth. For since the days of Joshua
the son of Nun, until that day the children of
Israel had not done so. And there was very great
gladness. Also day by day, from the first day
until the last day, he read from the book of
the law of God. And they kept the feast seven
days. And on the eighth day there was a sacred
assembly according to the prescribed manner.
Chapter 9 Now on the twenty -fourth day of this
month, the children of Israel were assembled
with fasting in sackcloth and with dust on their
heads. Then those of Israelite lineage separated
themselves from all foreigners, and they stood
and confessed their sins and the iniquities of
their fathers. And they stood up in their place
and read from the book of the law of the Lord,
their God, for one fourth of the day, and for
another fourth they confessed and worshipped
the Lord their God. Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel,
Shebaniah, Buni, Sherabiah, Bani, and Kinani,
stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried
out with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah,
Sherabiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pitaiah, said,
Stand up and bless the Lord your God forever
and ever. Blessed be your glorious name, which
is exalted above all blessing and praise. You
alone are the Lord. You have made heaven, the
heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the
earth and everything on it, the seas and all
that is in them, and you preserve them all. The
host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord
God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur
of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
You found his heart faithful before you and made
a covenant with him. to give the land of the
Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites,
the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it
to his descendants, you have performed your words,
for you are righteous. You saw the affliction
of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry
by the Red Sea. You showed signs and wonders
against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and
against all the people of his land. For you knew
that they acted proudly against them. So you
made a name for yourself as it is this day, and
you divided the sea before them, so that they
went through the midst of the sea on the dry
land, and their persecutors you threw into the
deep, as a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover,
you led them by day with a cloudy pillar, and
by night with a pillar of fire, to give them
light on the road, which they should travel.
You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke
with them from heaven, and gave them just ordinances
and true laws, good statutes and commandments.
You have made known to them your holy Sabbath
and commanded them precepts, statutes and laws
by the hand of Moses your servant. You gave them
bread from heaven for their hunger and brought
them water out of the rock for their thirst and
told them to go in to possess the land which
you had sworn to give them. But they and our
fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks and
did not heed your commandments. They refused
to obey, and they were not mindful of your wonders
that you did among them. But they hardened their
necks, and in their rebellion they appointed
a leader to return to their bondage. But you
are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did
not forsake them. Even when they made a molded
calf for themselves, and said, This is your God
that brought you up out of Egypt, and worked
great provocations, Yet in your manifold mercies
you did not forsake them in the wilderness. The
pillar of the cloud did not depart from them
by day to lead them on the road, nor the pillar
of fire by night to show them light and the way
they should go. You also gave your good spirit
to instruct them and did not withhold your manna
from their mouth and gave them water for their
thirst. Forty years you sustained them in the
wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes
did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
Moreover, you gave them kingdoms and nations,
and divided them into districts. So they took
possession of the land of Sihon, the land of
the king of Hezbon, and the land of Og king of
Bashan. You also multiplied their children as
the stars of heaven, and brought them into the
land which you had told their fathers to go in
and possess. So the people went in and possessed
the land. You subdued before them the inhabitants
of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into
their hands, with their kings and the people
of the land, that they might do with them as
they wished. And they took strong cities and
a rich land, and possessed houses full of all
goods, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive
groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they
ate and were filled and grew fat, and delighted
themselves in your great goodness. Nevertheless
they were disobedient. and rebelled against you,
cast your law behind their backs, and killed
your prophets who testified against them to turn
them to yourself. And they worked great provocations.
Therefore you delivered them into the hand of
their enemies, who oppressed them, and in the
time of their trouble, when they cried to you,
you heard from heaven. And according to your
abundant mercies, you gave them deliverers who
saved them from the hand of their enemies. But
after they had rest, they again did evil before
you. Therefore you left them in the hand of their
enemies, so that they had dominion over them.
Yet when they returned and cried out to you,
you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered
them according to your mercies, and testified
against them, that you might bring them back
to your law. Yet they acted proudly, and did
not heed your commandments, but sinned against
your judgments, which if a man does, he shall
live by them. And they shrugged their shoulders,
stiffened their necks, and would not hear. Yet
for many years you had patience with them and
testified against them by your spirit in your
prophets. Yet they would not listen. Therefore
you gave them into the hand of the peoples of
the lands. Nevertheless, in your great mercy,
you did not utterly consume them nor forsake
them. For you are God, gracious and merciful.
Now therefore our God, the great, the mighty
and awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy,
do not let all the trouble seem small before
you. that has come upon us, our kings and our
princes, our priests and our prophets, our fathers
and on all your people, from the days of the
kings of Assyria until this day. However, you
are just in all that has befallen us, for you
have dealt faithfully, but we have done wickedly.
Neither our kings nor our princes, our priests
nor our fathers, have kept your law, nor heeded
your commandments and your testimonies, with
which you testified against them. For they have
not served you in their kingdom, or in the many
good things that you gave them, or in the large
and rich land which you set before them, nor
did they turn from their wicked works. Here we
are, servants today, in the land that you gave
to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its bounty.
Here we are, servants in it, and it yields much
increase to the kings. You have set over us,
because of our sins. Also they have dominion
over our bodies and our cattle. At their pleasure,
and we are in great distress. And because of
all this, we make a sure covenant and write it.
Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal
it. These were the priests. Hashabaya, Zakur,
Sherabaya, Shibania, Hodeja, Bani, and Benino.
The leaders of the people. Now the rest of the
people. the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers,
the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who
had separated themselves from the peoples of
the lands to the law of God, their wives, their
sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge
and understanding. They joined with their brethren,
their nobles, and entered into a curse and an
oath to walk in God's law, which was given by
Moses, the servant of God, and to observe and
do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord.
and his ordinances and his statutes. We would
not give our daughters as wives to the peoples
of the land, nor take their daughters for our
sons. If the peoples of the land brought wares
or any grain to sell on a Sabbath day, we would
not buy it from them on a Sabbath or on a holy
day. And we would forego the seventh year's produce
and the exacting of every debt. Also we made
ordinances for ourselves to exact from ourselves
yearly one -third of a shekel for the service
of the house of our God, for the showbread, for
the regular grain offering, for the regular burnt
offering of the Sabbaths, the new moons, and
the set feasts, for the holy things, for the
sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and
all the work of the house of our God. We cast
lots among the priests, the Levites, and the
people for bringing the wood offering into the
house of our God according to our Father's houses
at the appointed times year by year to burn on
the altar of the Lord our God as it is written
in the law. And we made ordinances to bring the
firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits
of all fruit of all trees year by year to the
house of the Lord to bring the firstborn of our
sons and our cattle as it is written in the law.
and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks
to the house of our God, to the priests who minister
in the house of our God, to bring the firstfruits
of our dough, our offerings, the fruit from all
kinds of trees, the new wine and oil, to the
priests, to the storerooms of the house of our
God, and to bring the tithe of our land to the
Levites. For the Levites should receive the tithe
in all our farming communities. And a priest,
the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites
when the Levites receive tithe. And the Levites
shall bring up a tenth of the tithe to the house
of our God, to the rooms of the storehouse. For
the children of Israel and the children of Levi
shall bring the offering of the grain, of the
new wine and the oil, to the storerooms where
the articles of the sanctuary are. where the
priests who minister and the gatekeepers and
the singers are, and we will not neglect the
house of our God. I hope you enjoyed today's
reading as much as I did, and I look forward
to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our
journey. God bless you and have a great day.