Nehemiah 13:4-9

New American Standard Bible

Tobiah Expelled and the Temple Cleansed

⁴ Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, ^(A)who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being ^[a]related to ^(B)Tobiah, ⁵ had prepared a large ^[b]room for him, where previously they used to put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil ^(C)prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the ^[c]contributions for the priests. ⁶ But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in ^(D)the thirty-second year of ^(E)Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had come to the king. After some time, however, I requested a leave of absence from the king, ⁷ and I came to Jerusalem and ^[d]learned about the evil that Eliashib had committed for ^[e]Tobiah, ^(F)by preparing a ^[f]room for him in the courtyards of the house of God. ⁸ It was very displeasing to me, so I ^(G)threw all of Tobiah’s household articles out of the room. ⁹ Then I gave an order, and ^(H)they cleansed the rooms; and I returned the utensils of the house of God there with the grain offering and the frankincense.