Nehemiah Chapter 13

Nehemiah’s Final Reforms

¹ That day they read out loud from the Book of Moses so the people could hear it. There they found that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter God’s assembly. ² That was because they didn’t provide the Israelites with bread and water, but hired Balaam to curse them. But our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³ When they heard the Law, they excluded all foreigners from Israel.

⁴ Before this, Eliashib the priest—who was responsible for the rooms of God’s Temple and related to Tobiah— ⁵ had provided him a large room where they used to put the grain offerings, frankincense, utensils; the tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers; and the contributions for the priests. ⁶ During that time I wasn’t in Jerusalem.

In the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I’d gone back to the king and after some time asked leave from him. ⁷ I returned to Jerusalem and learned what evil Eliashib had done by providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the Temple. ⁸ I threw out his belongings ⁹ and ordered the rooms purified. I put back in there the utensils for God’s Temple, the grain offerings, and the frankincense.              

Neh 13:1-9

¹⁰ I also discovered that the Levites hadn’t been receiving their portions, so they and the singers that performed service had gone to their fields. ¹¹ I reprimanded the officials, “Why is God’s Temple abandoned?” I gathered them together and restored them to their posts. ¹² Then Judah brought a tenth of the grain, wine, and olive oil to the storehouses. ¹³ I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah, and Pedaiah from the Levites to oversee the storehouses because I considered them reliable. They were responsible for distributing to their fellow Levites. ¹⁴ Remember me for this, God. Don’t blot out my loyal efforts for your Temple and its services.

¹⁵ At that time, I saw some people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath. They were bringing into Jerusalem sacks of grain loaded on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs—all kinds of merchandise on the Sabbath. I admonished them the day they sold the food. ¹⁶ Men from Tyre were living there too. They were importing fish and other merchandise, and selling them to Judah on the Sabbath, right in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ I reprimanded the nobles of Judah,

“What’s this sin you’re committing, profaning the Sabbath? ¹⁸ Didn’t your ancestors do the same thing, and our God brought this trouble on us and this city? You’re adding to his wrath on Israel.”                                    

Neh 13:10-18

¹⁹ I commanded that the gates be shut the day before Sabbath at dusk and not opened till after Sabbath. I stationed some of my guards at the gates so no merchandise would come in on the Sabbath. ²⁰ Once or twice the traders and merchants spent the night just outside Jerusalem. ²¹ I warned them, “Why are you spending the night by the wall? Do it again, and I’ll use force on you.” From then on, they didn’t come on the Sabbath. ²² I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the Sabbath. Remember me for this too, God. Have mercy on me in keeping with your great enduring love.

²³ At that time, I saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. ²⁴ Half of their children spoke in the language of Ashdod and couldn’t speak the language of Judah. ²⁵ I contended with them, cursed them, struck some of them, pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God,

“Don’t intermarry with them. ²⁶ Didn’t Solomon sin in this matter? Among the nations there wasn’t a king like him. God loved him and made him king over all Israel, but foreign women caused even him to sin. ²⁷ Do we then hear that he acted unfaithfully against our God?”

²⁸ Even one of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat; so I banished him. ²⁹ Remember them, God, for defiling the priesthood and the covenant between the priesthood and the Levites.                                            

³⁰ I purified them from everything foreign and appointed specific duties for the priests and the Levites. ³¹ I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed times and for the firstfruits of harvest to be brought in at the appointed times. Remember me, God, for the good I’ve done.

Neh 13:19-31

Version by Virgil Warren: christir.org