The baraita continues: ...On the last Festival day of Sukkot, i.e., the Eighth Day of Assembly, they read the portion of “All the firstborns,” starting with the portion of “You shall tithe,” since it includes many mitzvot and statutes relating to gifts for the poor, who should be helped during this period of rejoicing, and it concludes with the halakhot governing firstborns (Deuteronomy 14:22–16:17). And they read as the haftara the portion of “And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying” (I Kings 8:54–9:1), which occurred on that day. On the next day, the second day of the Eighth Day of Assembly in the Diaspora, they read the portion of “And this is the blessing” (Deuteronomy, chapters 33–34) until the end of the Torah, and they read as the haftara “And Solomon stood” (I Kings 8:22–53).

The next day we read Ve-Zot ha-Bracha with Ve-Yaamod Shlomo as the Maftir. There are places where the custom was to read Va-Yehi Acharei Mot Moshe [Joshua 1] as the Maftir, but they should be ashamed of this because does the Talmud not say explicitly what [the Maftir should be]? There are those who say that it was Rav Hai Gaon who made this decree to say Va-Yehi Acharei Mot Moshe, but this is because they are ignorant. Why change the order in the Talmud?

On this second day of Yom Tov, which is the last, we are accustomed that even some of the elders dance when praises are said to the Torah. But this is because [the prohibition against dancing] is shevut [rabbinic] and they acted leniently on this day only, in honor of the Torah.

The night of the ninth [of Sukkot] we pray like on the night before [of the eighth, i.e. Shmini Atzeret] and say the kiddush on the holiday. Then the next day we pray as on the previous day. After that, we remove three Torah scrolls. From the first one we read Ve-Zot ha-Bracha and the one saying the Maftir reads from the second scroll just like on the day before and concludes with the section in Melachim [Alef], Ve-Yaamod Shlomo lifnei Hashem. There are those in Jerusalem who say as the Maftir Va-Yehi acharei mot Moshe, and so is our custom. From the third Torah scroll, he begins Bereshit. We call this Simchat Torah since we complete the Torah. It is appropriate to rejoice in its conclusion but we are used to beginning Bereshit immediately so that there won't provide Satan with a reason to defame us by saying, "See, they've just finished it and they don't want to read it anymore!" We also say many poems...and there are places where they remove all the Torah scrolls [from the ark] and say on each and every one a poem, each locale according to its own custom. In Ashkenaz it is the custom that the one who reads the end [of the Torah] and the one who reads the beginning take up a collection and call upon all their friends and make a feast and rejoice at the conclusion of the Torah and its beginning.

In Ashkenaz they are accustomed that the one who concludes [the Torah] and the one who begins [it] take up a collection and call upon all their friends and make a feast and rejoice in the conclusion of the Torah... I found the essence of this custom in the Midrash at the beginning of Shir ha-Shirim [on the verse from Melachim Alef 3:15], "He [Shlomo] stood before the Ark of the Covenant of G-d" which continues, "and then he made a feast for all his servants" - Rabbi Yitzhak said that from here [we derive that] we make a feast upon the completion of the Torah.

The Order of Simchat Torah: In places where they do two days of Yom Tov, Kiddush on the ninth night includes Shehecheyanu. The next day, we take out three Torah scrolls. From the first, we read "And this is the blessing" [Deuteronomy 33:1] until the end of the Torah. From the second, we read from "In the beginning" [Genesis 1:1] until "that God made" [2:3]. From the third, the maftir reads the same as the previous day. The haftarah is "After Moses died" [Joshua 1:1]. Rem"a: The last day of Yom Tov is called "Simchat Torah" because we rejoice on it, making a festive meal in honor of the finishing of the Torah. It is customary for the person who finishes the Torah and the one who starts Genesis to make a donation and invite everybody to a party (Tur). It is customary in these countries to take all of the Torahs out of the Ark on Simchat Torah at night and in the morning and to sing songs and praises. Every place should follow its customs. It is also the custom to circle the synagogue's Bimah with the Torah scrolls just like we circle with the lulav. This is all done out of joy. It is also the custom to have many readers from the Torah. We read the same section many times, and this is not forbidden (Minhagim, Rivas"h 84). It is also the custom to call up all of the children to the Torah and to read "the angel who has redeemed me..." [Genesis 48:6]. In the evening, we read the special sections from the Torah that are normally auctioned off, every place according to its custom. It is also the custom that even a child can finish off the Torah, even though there are those who say that specifically a scholar should finish it (Mordechai's small notes). Nowadays when the chazzan does the actual reading, there is no issue (his own opinion). In a place with only two Torah scrolls, we read "And this is the blessing" from the first, "In the beginning" from the second, and then we go back and reuse the first for the section associated with the day. This is done whenever three Torahs are needed but there are only two (found written somewhere).