The Jewish governor told them that they could not eat the food offered to God until there was a priest who could use the Urim and Thummim.

Many of the people contributed to help pay the cost of restoring the Temple: The governor: 270 ounces of gold & 50 ceremonial bowls & 530 robes for priests; Heads of clans: 337 pounds of gold & 3,215 pounds of silver; The rest of the people: 337 pounds of gold & 2,923 pounds of silver & 67 robes for priests

The first to sign was the governor, Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, and then Zedekiah signed. The following also signed:

The Jewish governor told them that they could not eat the food offered to God until there was a priest who could use the Urim and Thummim.

Emperor Artaxerxes gave the following document to Ezra, the priest and scholar, who had a thorough knowledge of the laws and commands which the LORD had given to Israel:

Then they rose and stood in their places, and the following Levites explained the Law to them: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah.

They gave an oral translation of God's Law and explained it so that the people could understand it.

For a long time Israel lived without the true God, without priests to teach them, and without a law.

Hezekiah praised the Levites for their skill in conducting the worship of the LORD. After the seven days during which they offered sacrifices in praise of the LORD, the God of their ancestors,

He also gave these instructions to the Levites, the teachers of Israel, who were dedicated to the LORD: "Put the sacred Covenant Box in the Temple that King Solomon, the son of David, built. You are no longer to carry it from place to place, but you are to serve the LORD your God and his people Israel.

My people are doomed because they do not acknowledge me. You priests have refused to acknowledge me and have rejected my teaching, and so I reject you and will not acknowledge your sons as my priests.

So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered---men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand.

(SEE 23:23)

On the first day of the seventh month you are to gather for worship, and no work is to be done. On that day trumpets are to be blown.

Offer the proper grain offering of flour mixed with olive oil: 6 pounds of flour with the bull, 4 pounds with the ram,

Also offer one male goat as a sin offering, and in this way perform the ritual of purification for the people.

There, in the presence of the LORD your God, who has blessed you, you and your families will eat and enjoy the good things that you have worked for.

Be joyful there in his presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns; remember that the Levites will have no land of their own.

Be joyful in the LORD's presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. Do this at the one place of worship.

Enjoy it with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns.

Honor the LORD your God by celebrating this festival for seven days at the one place of worship. Be joyful, because the LORD has blessed your harvest and your work.

I have not eaten any of it when I was mourning; I have not taken any of it out of my house when I was ritually unclean; and I have not given any of it as an offering for the dead. I have obeyed you, O LORD; I have done everything you commanded concerning the tithe.

He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy, the time for mourning and the time for dancing,

To give to those who mourn in Zion Joy and gladness instead of grief, A song of praise instead of sorrow. They will be like trees That the LORD himself has planted. They will all do what is right, And God will be praised for what he has done.

This is another thing you do. You drown the LORD's altar with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer accepts the offerings you bring him.

When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay,

and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse. But I have heard your prayer,

When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay

"Go and consult the LORD for me and for the people who still remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the teachings of this book. The LORD is angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the LORD and have not done what this book says must be done."

For no one is put right in God's sight by doing what the Law requires; what the Law does is to make us know that we have sinned.

I myself was once alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life,

But now I am happy---not because I made you sad, but because your sadness made you change your ways. That sadness was used by God, and so we caused you no harm.

See what God did with this sadness of yours: how earnest it has made you, how eager to prove your innocence! Such indignation, such alarm, such feelings, such devotion, such readiness to punish wrongdoing! You have shown yourselves to be without fault in the whole matter.