Nehemiah 13

¹ At that time they were reading to the people from the Book of Moses, when they found this written in it,'No Ammonite or Moabite is to be admitted to the assembly of God, and this is for al time,

² since they did not come to meet the Israelites with bread and water, and even hired Balaam to opposethem by cursing them; but our God turned the curse into a blessing.'

³ Having heard the Law, they excluded al foreigners from Israel.

⁴ Earlier, Eliashib the priest, who was in charge of the rooms of the Temple of our God, and who wasclose to Tobiah,

⁵ had provided him with a large room where they previously used to store the meal offerings, incense,utensils, tithes of corn, wine and oil, that is, the part of the Levites, singers and gatekeepers, and thecontributions for the priests.

⁶ While al this was going on I was away from Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes kingof Babylon I had gone to see the king. But after some time I asked the king for permission to leave,

⁷ and returned to Jerusalem, where I learned about the crime which Eliashib had committed for Tobiah'sbenefit, by providing him with a room in the courts of the Temple of God.

⁸ I was extremely displeased and threw al Tobiah's household goods out of the room and into thestreet.

⁹ I then gave orders for the room to be purified, and had the utensils of the Temple of God, the mealofferings and the incense, all replaced.

¹⁰ I also learned that the Levites had not been receiving their al ocations, as a result of which theLevites and singers who performed the liturgy had al withdrawn to their farms.

¹¹ I then reprimanded the officials. 'Why is the Temple of God deserted?' I asked. And I col ected themtogether again and brought them back to their posts;

¹² and al Judah then delivered the tithe of corn, wine and oil to the storehouses.

¹³ As supervisors of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, Pedaiah oneof the Levites and, as their assistant, Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, since they were consideredreliable people; their duty was to make the distributions to their kinsmen.

¹⁴ Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out the good deeds which I have done for theTemple of my God and its observances!

¹⁵ At the same time I saw people in Judah treading the winepress, bringing in sacks of grain andloading donkeys on the Sabbath; they were also bringing wine, grapes, figs and every kind of merchandise intoJerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I forbade them to sel the food.

¹⁶ Tyrians living there were bringing in fish and every kind of merchandise which they were sel ing tothe Judaeans on the Sabbath in Jerusalem itself.

¹⁷ So I also reprimanded the leading men of Judah, saying to them, 'What a wicked way to behave,profaning the Sabbath day!

¹⁸ Was this not exactly what your ancestors did, with the result that our God brought al this miserydown on us and on this city? And now you are adding to the wrath hanging over Israel by profaning the Sabbathyourselves!'

¹⁹ So when the gates of Jerusalem were getting dark at the approach of the Sabbath, I gave orders forthe doors to be shut and directed that they were not to be opened again until the Sabbath was over. I stationedsome of my attendants at the gates to make sure that no merchandise was brought in on the Sabbath day.

²⁰ So the traders and dealers in goods of al kinds spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice,

²¹ until I reprimanded them. I said to them, 'Why are you spending the night in front of the wal ? Do itagain, and I shal use force on you.' After this, they did not come on the Sabbath.

²² I then ordered the Levites to purify themselves and act as guards at the gates, so that the Sabbathday might be kept holy. Remember this also to my credit, have pity on me in the greatness of your faithful love.

²³ At that time too, I saw Jews who had married wives from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab;

²⁴ as regards their children, half of them spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of theother peoples, but could no longer speak the language of Judah.

²⁵ I reprimanded them, I cursed them, I struck several of them and tore out their hair and adjured themby God, 'You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons or let their daughters marry your sons, ormarry them yourselves!

²⁶ Was it not because of women like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Although among manynations there was no king like him and he was loved by his God, and God made him king of al Israel, even thenforeign women led him into sinning!

²⁷ Were you obedient when you committed this very grave crime: breaking faith with our God bymarrying foreign wives?'

²⁸ One of the sons of Jehoiada, son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanbal at theHoronite; I drove him from my presence.

²⁹ Remember them, my God, for having defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priests andLevites!

³⁰ And so I purged them of everything foreign; I drew up regulations for the priests and Levites, definingeach man's duty,

³¹ as wel as for the deliveries of wood at the proper times, and for the first-fruits. Remember this, myGod, to my credit!