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28 “Now the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples[a] because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand— 29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders[b] and enter into a curse and an oath[c] to adhere to[d] the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey[e] carefully all the commandments of the Lord our Lord,[f] along with his ordinances and his statutes.

30 “We will not give our daughters in marriage to the neighboring peoples, and we will not take their daughters in marriage for our sons. 31 We will not buy[g] on the Sabbath or on a holy day from the neighboring peoples who bring their wares and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day. We will let the fields lie fallow every seventh year, and we will cancel every loan.[h] 32 We accept responsibility for fulfilling[i] the commands to give[j] one third of a shekel each year for the work of the temple[k] of our God, 33 for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the temple of our God.

34 “We—the priests, the Levites, and the people—have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families[l] at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as is written in the law. 35 We also accept responsibility for[m] bringing the firstfruits of our land and the firstfruits of every fruit tree year by year to the temple of the Lord. 36 We also accept responsibility, as is written in the law, for bringing the firstborn of our sons and our cattle and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks to the temple of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the temple of our God. 37 We will also bring the first of our coarse meal, of our contributions, of the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of olive oil to the priests at the storerooms of the temple of our God, along with a tenth of the produce[n] of our land to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work.[o] 38 A priest of Aaron’s line[p] will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes, and the Levites will bring up a tenth of the tithes to the temple of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. 39 The Israelites and the Levites will bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils of the sanctuary are kept, and where the priests who minister stay, along with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the temple of our God.”

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 10:28 tn Heb “from the peoples of the lands.” Cf. vv. 30, 31.
  2. Nehemiah 10:29 tn Heb “the nobles.”
  3. Nehemiah 10:29 tn The expression “a curse and an oath” may be a hendiadys, meaning “an oath with penalties.”
  4. Nehemiah 10:29 tn Heb “to walk in.”
  5. Nehemiah 10:29 tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.
  6. Nehemiah 10:29 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
  7. Nehemiah 10:31 tn Heb “take.”
  8. Nehemiah 10:31 tn Heb “debt of every hand,” an idiom referring to the hand that holds legally binding contractual agreements.
  9. Nehemiah 10:32 tn Heb “cause to stand on us.”
  10. Nehemiah 10:32 tc The MT reads “to give upon us.” However, the term עָלֵינוּ (ʿalenu, “upon us”) should probably be deleted, following a few medieval Hebrew mss, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate.
  11. Nehemiah 10:32 tn Heb “house” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39).
  12. Nehemiah 10:34 tn Heb “the house of our fathers.”
  13. Nehemiah 10:35 tn The words “we accept responsibility” are not included in the Hebrew text, but are inferred from v. 33 (so also in v. 36).
  14. Nehemiah 10:37 tn Heb “a tithe of our land.”
  15. Nehemiah 10:37 tn Heb “of our work.”
  16. Nehemiah 10:38 tn Heb “And the priest the son of Aaron.”

28 The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples to follow the Instruction from God, together with their wives, their sons, their daughters, and all who have knowledge and understanding. 29 They join with their officials and relatives, and make a solemn pledge to live by God’s Instruction, which was given by Moses, God’s servant, and to observe faithfully all the commandments, judgments, and statutes of our Lord God.

30 We won’t give our daughters in marriage to the neighboring peoples, nor take their daughters in marriage for our sons.

31 If the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or any grain to sell on the Sabbath, we won’t buy it from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day.

Every seventh year we won’t plant crops, and we will return anything held in debt.

32 We pledge ourselves to keep the commandment and pay one-third of a shekel each year for the service of our God’s house, 33 for the stacks of bread and the regular grain offering and the regular entirely burned offering, for the sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed festivals, for the holy offerings and the purification offerings to make reconciliation for Israel, and for all the work of our God’s house.

34 We have also cast lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people so that we bring the wood offering into our God’s house by families at the appointed times every year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Instruction.

35 We will also bring the early produce of our soil and the early fruit from all trees every year to the Lord’s house.

36 We will also bring the oldest offspring of our children and our cattle, as it is written in the Instruction, and the oldest males of our herds and flocks to our God’s house, to the priests who serve in our God’s house.

37 We will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine, and the oil to the priests at the storerooms of our God’s house. We will also bring one-tenth of the produce of our soil to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tenth-part gifts in all the towns where we work.

38 A priest from the family of Aaron must be with the Levites when they collect the tenth-part gifts. Then the Levites must bring up one-tenth of the tenth-part gifts to our God’s house, to the storerooms of the treasury. 39 The Israelites and the Levites must bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the storerooms where the sanctuary equipment is kept, and where the priests on duty, the gatekeepers, and the singers reside. We won’t neglect our God’s house!

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