1. On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust.
2. Those truly of Israelite descent separated from all the foreigners, standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.
3. For one-fourth of the day they stood in their place and read from the book of the law of the lord their God, and for another fourth they were confessing their sins and worshiping the lord their God.
4. Then the Levites – Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani – stood on the steps and called out loudly to the lord their God.
5. The Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah – said, “Stand up and bless the lord your God!”“May you be blessed, O lord our God, from age to age. May your glorious name be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise.
6. You alone are the lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, along with all their multitude of stars, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You impart life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
7. “You are the lord God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham.