8 ¹ all the people gathered together^(A) at the square in front of the Water Gate.^(B) They asked Ezra the scribe^(C) to bring the book of the law of Moses^(D) that the Lord had given Israel.

³ While he was facing the square in front of the Water Gate,^(A) he read out of it from daybreak until noon before the men, the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively^[a] to the book of the law.^(B)