Nehemia 8:1-3

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. 8:2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.) 8:3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon ³  before the men and women and those children who could understand. ⁴  All the people were eager to hear ⁵  the book of the law.

Nehemia 8:16

8:16 So the people went out and brought these things ⁶  back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple ⁷  of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate.

[8:1]  ¹ tn Heb “like one man.”

[8:1]  ² tn Heb “said [to].”

[8:3]  ³ tn Heb “from the light till the noon of the day.”

[8:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “all who could hear with understanding.” The word “children” is understood to be implied here by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, TEV, NLT).

[8:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the ears of all the people were toward.”

[8:16]  ⁶ tn The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “the house.”