Nehemiah 7 records the genealogy of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem and Judah from the captivity in Babylon.
In chapter 8, all the people gather together and Ezra the priest reads from the book of the law and teaches them what it means. At first, they weep when they learn what they were supposed to do but after encouragement from Nehemiah and others, they rejoice and celebrate because they understood what had been read to them.
They also celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, which they hadn’t done since the time of Joshua, and Ezra reads from the book of the law each day during the feast.
Chapter 9 concludes this section of reading with the people repenting and confessing their sins before God. They read from the law for part of the day and for another part they confessed their sins and worshipped God.
