One who reads the Megillah may stand or sit. Whether one person read it, or two read it, they have fulfilled their obligation.  Where they are accustomed to recite a blessing [afterward], one should recite the blessing; [where the custom is] not to recite a blessing, one need not recite the blessing.  On Monday and Thursday, and on Sabbath afternoon, three [people] read [the Torah]; we may not decrease them nor add to them; and we do not conclude [the reading with a section] from the Prophets.  The one who commences and the one who concludes [the reading of] the Torah [respectively] recite the blessings [said] before it and after it.

On Rosh Chodesh and on Chol HaMoed, four [people] read [the Torah]; we may not decrease them nor add to them; and we do not conclude [the reading with a section] from the Prophets. The one who commences and the one who concludes [the reading of] the Torah [respectively] recite the blessings [said] before it and after it.  This is the general rule: [On] any day on which there is a Musaf but which is not a festival, four [people] read [the Torah]. On festivals, five [people read]; on Yom Kippur, six [people read]; and on the Sabbath, seven [people read]; we may not decrease them but we may increase them; and we conclude [the reading with a section] from the Prophets. The one who commences and the one who concludes [the reading of] the Torah [respectively] recite the blessings [said] before it and after it.

We may not divide the Shema; nor go before the Ark; nor [may the Kohanim] lift their hands [to recite the priestly blessing]; nor do we read [publicly] from the Torah; nor do we conclude [with a section] from the Prophets; nor do we make standing and sitting [tributes at a funeral]; nor do we say the mourners’ blessing, nor the consolations to the mourners; nor [are] the wedding blessings [recited]; nor is [God’s] Name mentioned in the invitation [to the Grace After Meals] in the presence of fewer than ten [men]. In [the appraisal of] lands, nine [men] and a Kohen [are required]; and [the appraisal of] a human is the same.

One who reads the Torah may not read fewer than three verses. He may not read more than one verse [at a time] for the translator; and in the section from the Prophets [he may not read more than] three [verses at a time]. If the three [verses] are three paragraphs, we read them one by one.  One is permitted to skip in [the reading of] the Prophets, but one may not skip in [the reading of] the Torah. How much is one permitted to skip? No more than what would cause the translator to pause.

The one who concludes with the section from the Prophets is the one who divides the Shema, and goes before the Ark, and lifts his hands [to bless the people]. If he is a minor, his father or teacher go [before the Ark] on his behalf.

A minor may read the Torah or serve as translator. However, he may not divide the Shema, nor may he go before the Ark, nor may he lift his hands [to bless the people].  One whose clothes are tattered may divide the Shema and serve as translator. However, he may not read the Torah nor may he go before the Ark, nor may he lift his hands.  A blind man may divide the Shema and serve as translator. R’ Yehudah says: Anyone who has never seen the luminaries may not divide the Shema.

A Kohen whose hands are blemished may not lift his hands. R’ Yehudah says: Even one whose hands are stained with woad or madder may not lift his hands because the people will stare at him.

[If] one says, “I will not go before the Ark in colored clothing,” he may not even go in white clothing. [If he says], “I will not go [before the Ark] in sandals,” he may not even go barefoot.  One who makes his tefillin round endangers himself and does not fulfill the precept. [If] he places [the tefillin] on his forehead, or in his palm, it is the manner of heresy. [If] he covered them with gold, or [if] he placed it on his sleeve, this is considered the way of the outsiders.

[If] one says, “Good men shall bless You,” this is heresy. [If one says], “Your mercy extends [even] to a bird’s nest,” or “For goodness is Your Name remembered,” or “We give thanks; we give thanks,” he is silenced.  [If] one gives symbolic interpretations to [the prohibitions against] forbidden unions, we silence him.  [If] one says, “[The verse:] And of your children you shall not give over to Molech [means] that you shall not give of your seed to impregnate a gentile woman,” we silence him with a condemnation.

The episode of Reuben is read but not translated. The episode of Tamar [however] is read and translated. The first narration of the [Golden] Calf is read and translated; the second is read but not translated.  The priestly blessing and the episode of David and Amnon are neither read nor translated.  We do not read the [vision of the] chariot as a haftarah. R’ Yehudah, however, permits it. R’ Eliezer says: We do not read Make known to Jerusalem as a haftarah.