Nehemiah 13

₁On that day the people heard what the books_of_Moses said. It is written: ‘There may never be Ammonites or people from Moab among the people of God ₂because they did not give the Israelites food and water on their way to this land, and they paid Balaam to curse the Israelites.’ Our God stopped Balaam so that he did not curse the Israelites and He changed the curse into a blessing. ₃When the people heard what the laws said, they told everyone who was not an Israelite to go away.

₄The priest, Eliashib, had to look after everything in the rooms of the temple of our God. He was part of the family of Tobiah, and some time before this ₅he had given Tobiah a big room to live in. But this was the room where they used to keep the wheat for the grain-offerings, and the incense and the tools and the 10th offerings of wheat, wine and olive oil. The Levites and the people who had to sing and the gatekeepers had to get some of the 10th offerings and the priests also had to get a part of it. ₆I was not in Jerusalem at that time because I had gone back to King Artaxerxes of Babylon. It was in the 32nd year after Artaxerxes had become king. But after some time I asked the king if I could go to Jerusalem. ₇When I came into Jerusalem, they told me that Eliashib had done something wrong. Eliashib had given Tobiah a room next to the courtyard of the temple. ₈I was very angry. I took Tobiah's things and threw them out of the room ₉and I told the priests to purify the rooms. Then I put the temple tools back in there, and the wheat and the incense.

₁₀They told me that they had not given the Levites food and that they had gone back to their land to work there. The Levites and the people who had to sing had to work at the temple. ₁₁I was angry with the leaders and I asked them: ‘Why didn't you look after the temple?’ I told the Levites to come back and start working at the temple again. ₁₂All the people of Judah started bringing their 10th offerings to the store rooms again, and their offerings of wheat, wine and olive oil. ₁₃I chose people to look after the store rooms. They had to divide the 10th offerings among the Levites. I chose the priest, Shelemiah, and the secretary, Zadok, and the Levite, Pedaiah. Hanan had to help them. He was the son of Zakkur, son of Mattaniah. I knew they were good people. ₁₄I prayed and said: ‘My God, please remember what I have done. I did what I had to do for the temple of my God and for the people who worship there. Please do not forget this.’

₁₅Then I saw the people in Judah working on the Sabbath day. They were trampling grapes to make wine in the wine-press. Other people were loading wheat on donkeys, and there were wine, grapes, figs and other things that they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. I told them that they could not sell anything on the Sabbath day. ₁₆There were people living in Jerusalem who came from the city of Tyre and they sold fish and other things to the people of Judah and Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. ₁₇I was angry and I told the leaders_of_Judah that they were wrong. I asked them: ‘Why are you doing these things that are wrong? You are making the Sabbath day impure. ₁₈Your forefathers did the same and our God decided to make all these bad things happen to us and to this city. You are making Him even more angry when you make the Sabbath day impure.’

₁₉This is what I then did: I told them to close and lock the gates of Jerusalem when the Sabbath day started, and that they must not open the gates until the evening when the Sabbath day was over. I told some of my men to stand at the gates to see that nothing came into the city on the Sabbath day. ₂₀The merchants and the other people who sold things had to sleep outside the walls of the city for one or 2 nights. ₂₁I warned them and asked them: ‘Why are you sleeping here outside the wall? If you do it again, I will punish you.’ They did not come again on the Sabbath day. ₂₂I told the Levites to purify themselves and to stand guard at the gates so that the Sabbath day would be a holy day. I prayed and said: ‘My God, please remember what I have done and bless me for doing this because your love never ends.’

₂₃I also saw that some people of Judah had married wives who came from the towns of Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. ₂₄Some of their children were speaking the language of the people from Ashdod and some children were speaking the language of other nations. About half of the children could not speak the language of the Jews. ₂₅I was very angry with those people of Judah. I cursed and beat them and pulled out their hair. I told them to promise that they would not let their daughters marry the sons of Gentiles and that they would not let their sons marry the daughters of Gentiles. They also had to promise that they themselves would not marry any Gentiles. I told them that God was their Witness. ₂₆I said to them: ‘King Solomon of Israel also sinned when he married women who were not Israelites. Yes, there is no land or nation who had a better king than he was. God loved him and God made him king of all the people of Israel, but his wives, who were not Israelites, made him sin. ₂₇And now they tell us that you have done this same bad thing and married women who are not Israelites. You are unfaithful to our God.’

₂₈Jehoiada, son of Eliashib the high-priest, had a son who had married a daughter of Sanballat from the town of Horon. I chased him away. ₂₉I prayed and said: ‘My God, I pray that You will punish them because they have broken the promises that the priests and Levites made to You. They have made the work of the priests impure.’

₃₀I purified them and took everything away that came from the Gentiles and I told the priests and the Levites how everyone should do their work. ₃₁I also told them when they should bring the wood and the first fruits. I prayed and said: ‘My God, please remember me and bless me for doing this.’