Ezera unobalila bathu nlayo
1 Ngono bathu bakakubungana bali tjithu tjing'ompela pa tjibata tji mbeli kwe Nkoba we Vula, bakadwa Ezera we nkwalili kakale ali mpirisiti kuti azhise lukwalo gwe nlayo wa Mushe, iwo wakapiwa Iziraela ndi Yahwe. 2 Mu zhuba le kutanga mu mwedzi we kutendeka, Ezera wakazhisa nlayo mbeli kwe balume ne bakadzi bakabe betubula kuhwisisa. 3 Wakaubala akalingisana nge tjibata tji mbeli kwe Nkoba we Vula, kutangisa mangwanana kunoti masikati mbeli kwe balume ne bakadzi bakabe betubula kuhwisisa. Bathu bose bakabe bakabhulutana kwazo.
4 Ezera we nkwalili wakatatha itubhu tje makwasayile tjabakabe bathamila nshingo iwoyo. Kubapa naye ku luji kwakabe kuli Mathitiya na Shema na Anaya na Uriya na Hilikiya na Maaseya. Ku lumeshwe kwakabe kuna Pedaya na Mishayele na Malikija na Hashumu na Hashabhadana na Zekariya na Meshulamu.
5 Ezera wakazhula lukwalo gwe nlayo. Bathu bose bakabe betubula kumbona ngobe wakabe alimile ali pezhugwi pakatathila, wakati eguzhula bathu bose bakamilika. 6 Ezera wakakudza Yahwe, Ndzimu nkulu ngono bathu bakamilidza maboko bakadabila beti, “Ngakujalo! Ngakujalo!” Bakakotamisa misholo bakanamata Yahwe bakathigama, njiso dzabo dzakalinga pasi.
7 Jeshuwa na Bhani na Sherebiya na Jamini na Akubu na Shabethayi na Hodiya na Maaseya na Kelita na Azariya na Jozabadi na Hanani na Pelaya ne Balevi bakabhatsha kuti bathu bahwisise, bathu ibo bakabe bali mile mu mamo abo. 8 Bakabala mu lukwalo gwe nlayo we Ndzimu, betoloka bethama kuti utjeneseseke kuti ndizo bathu ba hwisise tjabe tjibagwa.
9 Nehemiya wakabe ali nlauli Ezera ali mpirisiti kakale ali nkwalili ne Balevi bakabe bediya bathu bakadwa bathu beti, “Zhuba ileli lakayengemala kwazo kuna Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu, musibe mu buyendasi kene musilile.” Ngobe bathu bakabe belila abehwa matama e nlayo. 10 Wakabadwa kati, “Tjiyendani zwenyu, munoja zwakanaka, mung'we nkumbi we zhambi unozipa, mupe basina tjabangaja baje, zhuba ileli lakayengemala kuna She wedu ndizo musilile ngobe shatho ya Yahwe ndiyo simba lenyu.”
11 Balevi bakanyaladza bathu bose beti, “Nyalalani ngobe zhuba ileli lakayengemala, musilile” 12 Kudwapo bathu bose bakayenda bakanoja beng'wa bepabo ibabo basina, bakazana nge shatho hwulu ngobe ngwenu bakabe bohwisisa matama ababudziwa.
Nzano we Mishasha
13 Mu zhuba le bubili le mwedzi, batungamili be misha bakashangana ne bapirisiti ne Balevi bakanokubungana pana Ezera we nkwalili kuhwilila kwazo kwazo matama e Nlayo. 14 Bakawana kwaka kwagwa mu Nlayo ndaulo ya Yahwe yabakapa Mushe kuti Baiziraela bakafanila gala mu mishasha mu tjibaka tje nzano we mwedzi we kutendeka, 15 kakale bakafanila zibisa dama ileli kakale baliandamise mu mizi yabo ne mu Jerusalema, “Yendani ku shango ye matombo mu zhise thabi dze ntoba ne dze mitoba ye shango ne dze nshangule ne dze nlala ne dze miti ye mitutshi mubake mishasha nayo” sekwa kwakakwagwa.
16 Bathu bakayenda bakanoshaka thabi ngono bakazwibakila mishasha pezhugwi kwe matenga e ng'umba dzabo ne mu misha yabo ne mu zwing'umbana zwe Ng'umba ye Ndzimu ne mu zwibata zwi mbeli kwe Nkoba we Vula ne mbeli kwe Nkoba we Ifureimi. 17 Bose bakabuya kutapiwa bakabaka mishasha bakagala muili. Kudwa tjose mu mazhuba a Jeshuwa nkololo wa Nuni kunoti mu zhuba ilelo, Baiziraela abazotongo lishathila saikoku. Shatho yabo yakabe ili hwulu kwazo. 18 Zhuba ne zhuba, kudwa mu zhuba lekutanga kunoti le bupelo, Ezera wakabala mu lukwalo gwe Nlayo we Ndzimu. Bakazana nzano mazhuba ali kutendeka ngono mu zhuba lebu zhanakadzi sekwa kuli iko mu nlayo kwakabe ne nshangano.
Ezra Reads the Law to the People
1 By the seventh month the people of Israel were all settled in their towns. On the first day of that month they all assembled in Jerusalem, in the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law which the Lord had given Israel through Moses, to get the book of the Law. 2 So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered—men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand. 3 There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively.
4 Ezra was standing on a wooden platform that had been built for the occasion. The following men stood at his right: Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and the following stood at his left: Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
5 As Ezra stood there on the platform high above the people, they all kept their eyes fixed on him. As soon as he opened the book, they all stood up. 6 Ezra said, “Praise the Lord, the great God!”
All the people raised their arms in the air and answered, “Amen! Amen!” They knelt in worship, with their faces to the ground.
7 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. 8 They gave an oral translation of God's Law and explained it so that the people could understand it.
9 When the people heard what the Law required, they were so moved that they began to cry. So Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law, and the Levites who were explaining the Law told all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God, so you are not to mourn or cry. 10 Now go home and have a feast. Share your food and wine with those who don't have enough. Today is holy to our Lord, so don't be sad. The joy that the Lord gives you will make you strong.”
11 The Levites went around calming the people and telling them not to be sad on such a holy day. 12 So all the people went home and ate and drank joyfully and shared what they had with others, because they understood what had been read to them.
The Festival of Shelters
13 The next day the heads of the clans, together with the priests and the Levites, went to Ezra to study the teachings of the Law. 14 They discovered that the Law, which the Lord gave through Moses, ordered the people of Israel to live in temporary shelters during the Festival of Shelters. 15 So they gave the following instructions and sent them all through Jerusalem and the other cities and towns: “Go out to the hills and get branches from pines, olives, myrtles, palms, and other trees to make shelters according to the instructions written in the Law.”
16 So the people got branches and built shelters on the flat roofs of their houses, in their yards, in the Temple courtyard, and in the public squares by the Water Gate and by the Ephraim Gate. 17 All the people who had come back from captivity built shelters and lived in them. This was the first time it had been done since the days of Joshua son of Nun, and everybody was excited and happy. 18 From the first day of the festival to the last they read a part of God's Law every day. They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a closing ceremony, as required in the Law.