Nehemiah 8:9
What does Nehemiah 8:9 mean?
A plain-English look at Nehemiah 8:9 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nehemiah 8:9 means
Now the leaders—Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites—address the people’s tears. The Law exposed sin, so “all the people wept.” Yet they are told, “This day is holy… mourn not, nor weep.” Holiness does not cancel repentance, but on this sacred day, grief must give way to holy joy. The leaders shepherd emotions under God’s calendar: there is a time to weep and a time to rejoice. Conviction is real, but so is grace. The community is taught to honor the whole counsel of God—both the seriousness of sin and the goodness of God who calls His people to celebrate His holiness with faith and hope.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto Jehovah your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto Jehovah your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And Nehemiah, who was the Tirshatha, and Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were the teachers of the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God; let there be no sorrow or weeping; for all the people were weeping on hearing the words of the law.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And Nehemiah--he <FI>is<Fi> the Tirshatha--saith (and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who are instructing the people) to all the people, `To-day is holy to Jehovah your God, do not mourn, nor weep:' for all the people are weeping at their hearing the words of the law.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And Nehemiah (he is Athersatha) and Esdras the priest and scribe, and the Levites who interpreted to all the people, said: This is a holy day to the Lord our God: do not mourn, nor weep: for all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And Nehemiah, that is, the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that explained to the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah yourGod: mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.
Context
Having explained the Law, the teachers witness a wave of sorrow. Verse 9 records the leaders’ pastoral intervention, reminding the people that the day is holy. This reorients the assembly from unrestrained mourning to a fitting, festal response. The next verse will spell out what that looks like—feasting, generosity, and strength rooted in the joy of Jehovah—while the following verses reinforce this guidance.
v.8And they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading.
v.9This passage
v.10Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye grieved; for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 2 Chronicles 30:22
And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that had good understanding in the service of Jehovah. So they did eat throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace-offerings, and making confession to Jehovah, the God of their fathers.
- 2 Chronicles 15:3
Now for a long season Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law:
- Deuteronomy 16:11
and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are in the midst of thee, in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
- 2 Chronicles 34:21
Go ye, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Jehovah, to do according unto all that is written in this book.
- Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.
- Ecclesiastes 3:4
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
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