Nehemiah 13

Foreigners Removed from the Assembly

1 On that day, the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God,

2 Because they had not met the Israelites with bread and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them, though our God turned the curse into a blessing.

3 When the people heard this law, they separated all those of foreign descent from Israel.

Tobiah Given a Room in the Temple

4 Before this, Eliashib the priest, who had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God and was closely associated with Tobiah,

5 Had prepared a large room for him, where they previously stored the grain offerings, incense, temple articles, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.

6 But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission

7 And came back to Jerusalem. Here I discovered the evil thing Eliashib had done for Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of the house of God.

8 I was so angry that I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.

9 I gave orders to purify the rooms, and I put back the equipment of the house of God, along with the grain offerings and incense.

Neglect of the Levites Corrected

10 I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, so the Levites and singers who were supposed to do the work had gone back to their own fields.

11 So I rebuked the officials and asked, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.

12 All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil into the storerooms.

13 I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms, and made Hanan son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.

14 Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.

Violations of the Sabbath Stopped

15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in grain, loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and bringing it all into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. I warned them about selling food on that day.

16 People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah.

17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said, “What is this wicked thing you are doing, desecrating the Sabbath day,

18 Did not your ancestors do the same things, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city, Now you are bringing even more wrath on Israel by desecrating the Sabbath!”

19 When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my men at the gates so no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day.

20 Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem.

21 But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall, If you do this again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they did not come back on the Sabbath.

22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go guard the gates to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to Your great love.

Mixed Marriages Confronted

23 Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or another foreign language and could not speak the language of Judah.

25 I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. I made them swear by God: “You will not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned, Among the many nations there was no king like him, he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But even he was led into sin by foreign women.

27 Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?”

A Corrupt Priest Removed

28 One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. I drove him away from me.

29 Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

Final Reforms and Closing Prayer

30 So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task.

31 I also made sure the wood offerings were brought at the appointed times, and the firstfruits. Remember me with favor, my God.