Nehemiah’s Final Reforms

13 On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God,^{(A) 2} because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam^(B) to call a curse down on them.^(C) (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.)^{(D) 3} When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.^(E)

⁴ Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms^(F) of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah,^{(G) 5} and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes^(H) of grain, new wine and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, musicians and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.

⁶ But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes^(I) king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission ⁷ and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib^(J) had done in providing Tobiah^(K) a room in the courts of the house of God. ⁸ I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.^{(L) 9} I gave orders to purify the rooms,^(M) and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.^(N)

¹⁰ I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them,^(O) and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields.^{(P) 11} So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?”^(Q) Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.

¹² All Judah brought the tithes^(R) of grain, new wine and olive oil into the storerooms.^{(S) 13} I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because they were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.^(T)

¹⁴ Remember^(U) me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.

¹⁵ In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath.^(V) Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. ¹⁶ People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath^(W) to the people of Judah. ¹⁷ I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? ¹⁸ Didn’t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city?^(X) Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.”^(Y)

¹⁹ When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath,^(Z) I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. ²¹ But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. ²² Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember^(AA) me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.

²³ Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married^(AB) women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab.^{(AC) 24} Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language^(AD) of Judah. ²⁵ I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath^(AE) in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.^{(AF) 26} Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him.^(AG) He was loved by his God,^(AH) and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.^{(AI) 27} Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying^(AJ) foreign women?”

²⁸ One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib^(AK) the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat^(AL) the Horonite. And I drove him away from me.

²⁹ Remember^(AM) them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.^(AN)

³⁰ So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign,^(AO) and assigned them duties, each to his own task. ³¹ I also made provision for contributions of wood^(AP) at designated times, and for the firstfruits.^(AQ)

Remember^(AR) me with favor, my God.

Queen Vashti Deposed

1 This is what happened during the time of Xerxes,^[a](A) the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces^(B) stretching from India to Cush^[b]:^{(C) 2} At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa,^{(D) 3} and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet^(E) for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.

⁴ For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. ⁵ When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days,^(F) in the enclosed garden^(G) of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. ⁶ The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches^(H) of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. ⁷ Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality.^{(I) 8} By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.

⁹ Queen Vashti also gave a banquet^(J) for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

¹⁰ On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits^(K) from wine,^(L) he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona,^(M) Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— ¹¹ to bring^(N) before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty^(O) to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. ¹² But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.^(P)

¹³ Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times^{(Q) 14} and were closest to the king—Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan, the seven nobles^(R) of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom.

¹⁵ “According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”

¹⁶ Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. ¹⁷ For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ ¹⁸ This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.^(S)

¹⁹ “Therefore, if it pleases the king,^(T) let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed,^(U) that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. ²⁰ Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.”

²¹ The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed. ²² He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language,^(V) proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue.