So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”
Parallel translations
- WEB So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Hold your peace, for the day is holy. Don’t be grieved.”
- KJV So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.
- BSB And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.”
- NASB So the Levites silenced all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”
- NLT And the Levites, too, quieted the people, telling them, “Hush! Don’t weep! For this is a sacred day.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Levites calmed the people, telling them to be still because the day was holy and not for grief. The leaders reinforced the call to holy joy.
Overview
The Levites echoed the call to set aside sorrow, urging the people to be at peace on this sacred day. Their repeated reassurance shows pastoral care in guiding the people's emotions toward appropriate worship. It models how faithful leaders comfort the convicted, turning them from despair toward the rest and gladness God provides.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Num 13:30Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!”
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 8:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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