Nehemiah 13
1 On that day, when someone read to the people parts of the laws [that God gave] to Moses, they read where it was written that no one from the Ammon people-group or the Moab people-group was ever to be allowed to be with God’s people while they were gathered together [to worship].
On that day they read in the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. It was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should come into the assembly of God, forever.
2 The reason for that was that the people of Ammon and the people of Moab did not give/sell any food or water to the Israelis [while the Israelis were going through their areas after they left Egypt]. Instead, the people of Ammon and Moab paid money to Balaam in order that he would curse the Israelis. But God commanded Balaam to bless the people, not to curse them.
This was because they had not come to the people of Israel with bread and with water, but they had hired Balaam to curse Israel. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3 So when the people heard these laws [being read to them], they sent away all the people whose ancestors had come from other countries.
As soon as they heard the law, they separated out from Israel every foreign person.
4 Previously, Eliashib the priest had been appointed to be in charge of the storerooms in the temple. He was a relative of [our enemy] Tobiah.
Now before this Eliashib the priest was appointed over the storerooms of the house of our God. He was related to Tobiah.
5 He allowed Tobiah to use a large room in which they had previously stored the grain offerings and the incense, the equipment that is used in the temple, the offerings [that the people had brought] for the priests, and the tithes of grain and wine and [olive] oil that [God] had commanded the people to bring to the [other] descendants of Levi, and to the temple musicians, and to the temple guards.
Eliashib prepared for Tobiah a large storeroom, where previously they kept the grain offering, the incense, the articles, and the tithes of the grain, new wine, and the oil, which were designated for the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
6 While [Tobias was using that room], I was not in Jerusalem, because in the 32nd year that Artaxerxes was the king of Babylonia, I went back there to report to him. After a while I requested the king to allow me to return to Jerusalem, [and he allowed me to go].
But in all this time I was not in Jerusalem. For in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. After some time I asked the king for permission to leave,
7 When I arrived in Jerusalem, I found out that Eliashib had done an evil thing by allowing Tobiah to use a room in God’s temple.
and I returned to Jerusalem. I understood the evil that Eliashib had done by giving Tobiah a storeroom in the courts of the house of God.
8 I became very angry, and I threw out of that room everything that belonged to Tobiah.
I was very angry and I threw all Tobiah's household articles out of the storeroom.
9 Then I commanded [that they perform a ritual] to make the rooms (pure/acceptable to God) again. And I also ordered that all the equipment used in the temple and all the grain offerings and incense should be put in that room again.
I ordered that they purify the storerooms, and I put back in them the articles of the house of God, the grain offerings, and the incense.
10 I also found out that the temple musicians and [other] descendants of Levi had left Jerusalem and returned to their fields/farms, because the Israeli people had not been bringing to them the food [that they needed].
I learned that the Levites' portions had not been given to them, and they had run away, each to his own field, the Levites and the singers who did the work.
11 So I rebuked the officials, saying to them, “(Why have you not taken care of the work in the temple?/It is disgraceful that you have not taken care of the work in the temple.)” [RHQ] So I brought the descendants of Levi and the musicians back to the temple, and told them to do their work there again.
So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God neglected?” I gathered them together and stationed them at their posts.
12 Then all the people of Judah again started to bring to the temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and [olive] oil.
Then all Judah brought in the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the storerooms.
13 I appointed these men to be in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah, who was a priest; Zadok, who knew the Jewish laws very well; and Pedaiah, a descendant of Levi. I appointed Hanan, who is the son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah, to assist them. I knew that I could trust these men while they distributed those offerings to their fellow workers.
I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and from the Levites, Pedaiah. Next to them was Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah, for they were counted as trustworthy. Their duties were to distribute the supplies to their associates.
14 My God, do not forget all these good things that I have faithfully done for your temple and for the work that is done there!
Call me to mind, my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out the good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and its services.
15 During that time, I saw some people in Judea [who were working] on the Sabbath day. [Some were] pressing grapes [to make wine]. Others were putting grain, [bags of] wine, [baskets of] grapes, figs, and many [HYP] other things, on their donkeys and taking them into Jerusalem. I warned them that they should not sell things to the people of Judea on Sabbath days.
In 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 heavy loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. I protested that they were selling food on that day.
16 I also saw some people from Tyre [city] who were living there in Jerusalem who were bringing fish and other things [into Jerusalem] to sell to the people of Judea on the Sabbath day.
Men from Tyre living in Jerusalem brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and they sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah and in the city!
17 So I rebuked the Jewish leaders and told them, “This is [RHQ] a very evil thing that you are doing! You are causing the Sabbath days to be unholy.
Then I confronted the leaders of Judah, “What is this evil thing you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?
18 Your ancestors did [RHQ] things like that, so God punished them, and as a result, this city was destroyed! And now by causing the Sabbath day to be unholy, you are going to cause God to be angry with us Israeli people [and punish us] more!”
Did not your fathers do this? Did not our God bring all this evil on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19 So I ordered that at (the beginning of every Sabbath day/every Friday evening) they should shut the gates of the city before it became dark. I also ordered that they should not open the gates until (the Sabbath day was ended [the next day]/Saturday evening). Then [each Sabbath day] I put some of my men at the gates, so they would make sure that nothing to sell was brought into the city on that day.
As soon as it became dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors be shut and that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I stationed some of my servants at the gates so no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day.
20 One or two times merchants [DOU] stayed outside of the city on (Friday night/[the night before the Sabbath day]).
The merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares camped outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21 I warned them, “It is useless [RHQ] for you to stay here outside the walls [on Friday night]! If you do this again, I will tell my men to arrest you!” So after that, they did not come on Sabbath days.
But I warned them, “Why do you camp 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.
22 I also commanded the descendants of Levi to [perform the ritual to] purify themselves and to guard the city gates, to make sure that the Sabbath was kept holy [by not allowing merchants to enter it on Sabbath days]. My God, do not forget this also that I [have done for you]! And because of your faithfully loving me, allow me to continue to live [many more years]!
Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves, and come and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Call me to mind for this also, my God, and have mercy on me because of the covenant loyalty you have toward me.
23 During that time, I also found out that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod [city], and from [the] Ammon and Moab [people-groups].
In those days I also saw Jews that had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
24 The result was that half of their children spoke the language that people in Ashdod speak or some other language, and they didn’t know how to speak our language.
Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod. None of them could speak the language of Judah, but only the language of one of the other peoples.
25 So I rebuked those men, and I [asked God to] curse them, and I beat them and pulled out [some of] their hair. Then I forced them to solemnly promise, knowing that God [MTY] was [listening], that they would never again marry foreigners, and never allow their children to marry foreigners.
I confronted them, and I cursed them, and I hit some of them and pulled out their hair. I made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves.
26 [I said to them], “Solomon, the king of Israel, sinned [RHQ] as a result of [marrying] foreign women. He was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him, and caused him to become the king of all the Israeli people, but his foreign wives caused even him to sin.
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of these women? Among many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, his foreign wives caused him to sin.
27 [Do you think that] we should do what you have done, and disobey our God by marrying foreign women [who worship idols]? [RHQ]”
Should we then listen to you and do all this great evil, and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”
28 One of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the Supreme Priest, had married the daughter of [our enemy] Sanballat, from Beth-Horon [town]. So I forced Jehoiada’s son to leave Jerusalem.
One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I caused him to flee from my presence.
29 My God, do not forget that those people [who have married foreign women] have caused it to be a shame/disgrace to be a priest, and have caused people to despise the agreement that you made with the priests and with the [other] descendants of Levi [who help the priests])!
Call them to mind, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
30 I did all that to make sure that there were no more foreign people among the [Israeli] people [who would encourage them to worship idols]. I also established regulations for the priests and [other] descendants of Levi, in order that they would know what work they should do.
Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and established the duties of the priests and the Levites, each to his own task.
31 I also arranged for people to bring the firewood [that was needed to burn on the altar, as Moses had declared] that we should [do]. I also arranged for the people to bring the first part of what they harvested [each year]. My God, do not forget [that] I [have done all these things], and bless me [for doing them]!
I provided for the wood offering at the appointed times and for the firstfruits. Call me to mind, my God, for good.
