On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could listen and understand.
Parallel translations
- WEB Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.
- KJV And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
- ESV So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB Then Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.
- NLT So on October 8 Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand.
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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
Ezra brought the Law before the whole assembly of men, women, and all who could understand, on the first day of the seventh month. God's word was for the entire covenant community.
Overview
Ezra, both priest and scribe, presented the Law to an inclusive gathering that embraced men, women, and children old enough to understand. The reading on the first of the seventh month coincided with the Feast of Trumpets, a day of holy assembly (Leviticus 23:24). That God's word was opened to all, not a select few, affirms that Scripture is meant for every believer to hear and heed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Lev 23:24“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly announced by trumpet blasts.
- Mal 2:7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
- Num 29:1“On the first day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This will be a day for you to sound the trumpets.
- Isa 28:9Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?
- Acts 15:21For Moses has been proclaimed in every city from ancient times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
- Deut 17:18When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
- Deut 31:9–13So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
- 2 Chr 17:7–9In the third year of his reign, Jehoshaphat sent his officials Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah,
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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 8:2 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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