Nehemiah 13

¹On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people . And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God ,

²for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water , but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing .

³As soon as the people heard the law , they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent .

⁴Now before this , Eliashib the priest , who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God , and who was related to Tobiah ,

⁵prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering , the frankincense , the vessels , and the tithes of grain , wine , and oil , which were given by commandment to the Levites , singers , and gatekeepers , and the contributions for the priests .

⁶While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem , for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king . And after some time I asked leave of the king

⁷and came to Jerusalem , and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah , preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God .

⁸And I was very angry , and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber .

⁹Then I gave orders , and they cleansed the chambers , and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God , with the grain offering and the frankincense .

¹⁰I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers , who did the work , had fled each to his field .

¹¹So I confronted the officials and said , Why is the house of God forsaken ? And I gathered them together and set them in their stations .

¹²Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain , wine , and oil into the storehouses .

¹³And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest , Zadok the scribe , and Pedaiah of the Levites , and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur , son of Mattaniah , for they were considered reliable , and their duty was to distribute to their brothers .

¹⁴Remember me, O my God , concerning this , and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service .

¹⁵In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath , and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys , and also wine , grapes , figs , and all kinds of loads , which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day . And I warned them on the day when they sold food .

¹⁶Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah , in Jerusalem itself!

¹⁷Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, What is this evil thing that you are doing , profaning the Sabbath day ?

¹⁸Did not your fathers act in this way , and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city ? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath .

¹⁹As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath , I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath . And I stationed some of my servants at the gates , that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day .

²⁰Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice .

²¹But I warned them and said to them, Why do you lodge outside the wall ? If you do so again , I will lay hands on you. From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath .

²²Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates , to keep the Sabbath day holy . Remember this also in my favor, O my God , and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love .

²³In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod , Ammon , and Moab .

²⁴And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod , and they could not speak the language of Judah , but only the language of each people .

²⁵And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair . And I made them take an oath in the name of God , saying, You shall not give your daughters to their sons , or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

²⁶Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women ? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God , and God made him king over all Israel . Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin .

²⁷Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women ?

²⁸And one of the sons of Jehoiada , the son of Eliashib the high priest , was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite . Therefore I chased him from me .

²⁹Remember them, O my God , because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites .

³⁰Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign , and I established the duties of the priests and Levites , each in his work ;

³¹and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times , and for the firstfruits . Remember me, O my God , for good .