- On the twenty-fourth day of the month, the people are fasting, wearing sackcloth, and putting dirt on their heads—the whole atonement thing.
- The Israelites separate themselves from the other people living there and confess their sins and disobedience.
- They read from the Law for a quarter of the day, then confess and worship God for the next quarter.
- Some of the Levites cry out to God and tell the people to stand up and bless and praise God.
- Following that, they send out for falafel.
- Next, Ezra stands up and confesses the people's sins to God. He praises God as the creator of the world, and the God of Abraham.
- Then Ezra recites the whole history of Israel up until his own time. He begins with the Exodus and the miracles God performed against Pharaoh.
- He tells it all: God destroying Pharaoh's army, God leading the people as a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud, giving Moses the Law on Mount Sinai, and providing bread from heaven and water from the rock for the people in the wilderness.
- Even with all that, the people were disobedient, building the golden calf while Moses was hard at work up on Mt. Sinai.
- But God was forgiving and continued to sustain them in the wilderness anyway.
- Then God let the people conquer Canaan and become a populous nation.
- Still, they were disobedient, killing prophets and committing blasphemies.
- So God let the people fall into the hands of their enemies, though he's still merciful to them in many small and individual ways. He also instructs them through the prophets.
- But they still failed to be obedient and were stubborn—what is it with these people?—so God permitted them to be sent into exile.
- But he never totally forgot about them.
- Though God has been merciful to them in letting them return, they're still slaves, says Ezra, ruled by foreign kings.
- They all make a covenant agreeing to be obedient this time, signed with the names of the officials, priests, and Levites.