Israel is back in the land God promised them and the walls of Jerusalem have been rebuilt. All of the people come together to hear God’s Law being read by Ezra. This is followed by worship, sorrow/sadness over sin, and rejoicing because of God. The people have the Law but they also understand the sin they committed against God. The people together, led by the priests, remember and confess their sins against God and promise to walk according to God’s laws. Nehemiah then leaves to go back and serve the king for a time, but upon his return to Jerusalem, he finds that Israel has turned away from what they promised to sin again in the ways they did before.