Nehemiah 8:1

8:1 all the people gathered together ¹  in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked ²  Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had commanded Israel.

Nehemiah 8:9-10

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ³  Ezra the priestly scribe, ⁴  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ⁵  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law. 8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. ⁶  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemiah 9:5-6

9:5 The Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God!”

“May you be blessed, O LORD our God, from age to age. ⁷  May your glorious name ⁸  be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise. 9:6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, ⁹  along with all their multitude of stars, ¹⁰  the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You impart life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Nehemiah 10:29

10:29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders ¹¹  and enter into a curse and an oath ¹²  to adhere to ¹³  the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey ¹⁴  carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, ¹⁵  along with his ordinances and his statutes.

Nehemiah 10:34

10:34 “We – the priests, the Levites, and the people – have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families ¹⁶  at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as is written in the law.

[8:1]  ¹ tn Heb “like one man.”

[8:1]  ² tn Heb “said [to].”

[8:9]  ³ tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.

[8:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

[8:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

[8:10]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:5]  ⁷ tc The MT reads here only “from age to age,” without the preceding words “May you be blessed, O LORD our God” which are included in the present translation. But apparently something has dropped out of the text. This phrase occurs elsewhere in the OT as a description of the Lord (see Ps 41:13; 106:48), and it seems best to understand it here in that light. The LXX adds “And Ezra said” at the beginning of v. 6 as a transition: “And Ezra said, ‘You alone are the LORD.” Without this addition (which is not included by most modern English translations) the speakers of vv. 9:5b-10:1 continue to be the Levites of v. 5a.

[9:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “the name of your glory.”

[9:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “the heavens of the heavens.”

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all their host.”

[10:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the nobles.”

[10:29]  ¹² tn The expression “a curse and an oath” may be a hendiadys, meaning “an oath with penalties.”

[10:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “to walk in.”

[10:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[10:29]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[10:34]  ¹³ tn Heb “the house of our fathers.”