Public Reading of the Law

⁹ So Moses wrote^(A) down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried^(B) the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,^(C) during the Festival of Tabernacles,^{(D) 11} when all Israel comes to appear^(E) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,^(F) you shall read this law^(G) before them in their hearing.

⁹ Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites^(A) who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.”^(B) For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.