Nehemiah 13
13
Foreigners Are Sent Away
1 #
Dt 23.3-5. On that day when the Law of Moses was read aloud to everyone, it was discovered that Ammonites and Moabites were forbidden to belong to the people of God. 2#Nu 22.1-6. This was because they had refused to give food and water to Israel and had hired Balaam#13.2 Balaam: See Numbers 22.1-6. to call down a curse on them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3Following the reading of the Law of Moses, the people of Israel started sending away anyone who had any foreign ancestors.
Nehemiah Makes Other Changes
4The priest Eliashib was a relative of Tobiah and had earlier been put in charge of the temple storerooms. 5So he let Tobiah live in one of these rooms, where all kinds of things had been stored—the grain offerings, incense, utensils for the temple, as well as the tenth of the grain, wine, and olive oil that had been given for the use of the Levites, singers, and temple guards, and the gifts for the priests.
6This happened in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes#13.6 Artaxerxes: See the note at 1.1. ruled Babylonia. I was away from Jerusalem at the time, because I was visiting him. Later I received permission from the king 7to return to Jerusalem. Only then did I find out that Eliashib had done this terrible thing of letting Tobiah have a room in the temple. 8It upset me so much that I threw out every bit of Tobiah's furniture. 9Then I ordered the room to be cleaned and the temple utensils, the grain offerings, and the incense to be brought back into the room.
10 #
Dt 12.5-19. I also found out that the temple singers and several other Levites had returned to work on their farms, because they had not been given their share of the harvest. 11I called the leaders together and angrily asked them, “Why is the temple neglected?” Then I told them to start doing their jobs. 12#Ml 3.10. After this, everyone in Judah brought a tenth of their grain, wine, and olive oil to the temple storeroom. 13Finally, I appointed three men with good reputations to be in charge of what was brought there and to distribute it to the others. They were Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher of the Law, and Pedaiah the Levite. Their assistant was Hanan, the son of Zaccur and the grandson of Mattaniah.
14I pray that my God will remember these good things that I have done for his temple and for those who worship there.
The Sabbath
15 #
Ex 20.8-10; Dt 5.12-14; Jr 17.21-24. I also noticed what the people of Judah were doing on the Sabbath. Not only were they trampling grapes to make wine, but they were harvesting their grain, grapes, figs, and other crops, and then loading these on donkeys to sell in Jerusalem. So I warned them not to sell food on the Sabbath. 16People who had moved to Jerusalem from the city of Tyre were bringing in fish and other things to sell there on the Sabbath. 17I got angry and said to the leaders of Judah, “This evil you are doing is an insult to the Sabbath! 18Didn't God punish us and this city because our ancestors did these very same things? And here you are, about to make God furious again by disgracing the Sabbath!”
19I ordered the gates of Jerusalem to be closed on the eve of the Sabbath#13.19 eve of the Sabbath: The Jewish day began at sunset. and not to be opened until after the Sabbath had ended. Then I put some of my own men in charge of the gates to make certain that nothing was brought in on the Sabbath. 20Once or twice some merchants spent the night outside Jerusalem with their goods. 21But I warned them, “If you do this again, I'll have you arrested.” From then on, they did not come on the Sabbath. 22I ordered the Levites to make themselves holy and to guard the gates on the Sabbath, so that it would be kept holy.
God is truly merciful, and I pray that he will treat me with kindness and bless me for doing this.
Mixed Marriages
23 #
Ex 34.11-16; Dt 7.1-5. I discovered that some Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24About half of their children could not speak Hebrew—they spoke only the language of Ashdod or some other foreign language. 25So in my anger, I called down curses on those men. I had them beaten and even pulled out the hair of some of them. Then I made them promise:
In the name of God we solemnly promise not to let our sons and daughters marry foreigners. 26#2 S 12.24,25; 1 K 11.1-8. God dearly loved King Solomon of Israel and made him the greatest king on earth, but Solomon's foreign wives led him into sin. 27So we will obey you and not rebel against our God by marrying foreign women.
28 #
Ne 4.1. Jehoiada, the son of the high priest Eliashib, had a son who had married a daughter of Sanballat from Horon,#13.28 Horon: See the note at 2.10. and I forced his son to leave.
29I pray that God will punish them for breaking their priestly vows and disgracing the Levi tribe.
30Then I made sure that the people were free from every foreign influence, and I assigned duties for the priests and Levites. 31I also arranged for the people to bring firewood to the altar each day and for them to bring the first part of their harvest to the temple.
I pray that God will bless me for the good I have done.
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Nehemiah 13: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Nehemiah 13
13
1On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and there was found written in it that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God#GodHebrew: Elohim for ever; 2because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and with water, and had hired Balaam against them, to curse them; but our God#GodHebrew: Elohim turned the curse into blessing. 3And it came to pass, when they heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. 4And before this, Eliashib the priest, who had the oversight of the chambers of the house of our God#GodHebrew: Elohim a kinsman of Tobijah, 5had prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they laid the oblations, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine and the oil, which was commanded for the Levites and the singers and the doorkeepers, and the heave-offerings of the priests. 6And during all that time I was not at Jerusalem; for in the two-and-thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I came to the king; and after some time I obtained leave of the king. 7And I came to Jerusalem, and observed the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobijah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God#GodHebrew: Elohim 8And it grieved me much, and I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobijah out of the chamber. 9And I commanded, and they purified the chambers; and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God#GodHebrew: Elohim the oblation and the frankincense.
10And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given, and that the Levites and the singers that did the work had fled every one to his field. 11Then I contended with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God#GodHebrew: Elohim forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place. 12And all Judah brought the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil into the storehouses. 13And I made storekeepers over the storehouses: Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and subordinate to them, Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were esteemed faithful, and their office was to distribute to their brethren. 14Remember me, O my God#GodHebrew: Elohim concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds which I have done for the house of my God#GodHebrew: Elohim and for the charges thereof!
15In those days I saw in Judah some treading winepresses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading them on asses; as also wine, grapes and figs, and all manner of burdens; and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I protested in the day on which they sold the victuals. 16Men of Tyre also dwelt therein, who brought fish and all manner of ware, and sold it on the sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17And I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this which ye do, profaning the sabbath day? 18Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God#GodHebrew: Elohim bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? And ye will bring more wrath against Israel by profaning the sabbath. 19And it came to pass, that when it began to be dark in the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut; and I commanded that they should not be opened till after the sabbath. And I set someof my servants at the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the sabbath day. 20And the dealers and sellers of all kind of ware passed the night without Jerusalem once or twice. 21And I testified against them, and said to them, Why do ye pass the night before the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came not on the sabbath. 22And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to hallow the sabbath day. Remember this also for me, my God#GodHebrew: Elohim and spare me according to thy great loving-kindness!
23In those days also I saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab. 24And their children spoke half in the language of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. 25And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair, and adjured them by God#GodHebrew: Elohim saying, Ye shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among the many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God#GodHebrew: Elohim and God#GodHebrew: Elohim made him king over all Israel; but even him did foreign wives cause to sin. 27And should we hearken to you to do all this great evil, to act unfaithfully to our God#GodHebrew: Elohim by marrying foreign wives? 28And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; and I chased him from me. 29Remember them, my God#GodHebrew: Elohim for they are polluters of the priesthood, and of the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites! 30And I purified them from all foreigners, and appointed the charges of the priests and the Levites, every one in his service; 31and for the wood-offering, at times appointed, and for the first-fruits. Remember me, O my God#GodHebrew: Elohim for good!
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.