Nehemiah 13
Common English Bible
Restoring the temple
13 On that day, when the scroll from Moses was being read to the people, they found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter God’s assembly. 2 This is because they hadn’t met the Israelites with food and water but instead hired Balaam against them to curse them. Yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When the people heard this law, they separated out from Israel all those of mixed descent.
4 Now before this, however, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed to be in charge of the storerooms of our God’s house and who was related to Tobiah, 5 prepared a large room for Tobiah to use. This was the room where they had previously kept the grain offering, the incense, and the equipment, together with the tenth-part gifts of grain, wine, and oil. These items were for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers as well as the portions for the priests.
6 I wasn’t in Jerusalem while this was happening because I had gone to Babylon’s King Artaxerxes in the thirty-second year of the king. After some time, I asked the king’s permission 7 and returned to Jerusalem. That was when I saw the wrong that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by preparing him a room in the courtyards of God’s house. 8 I was very angry and threw all of Tobiah’s household furniture out of the room. 9 Then I gave orders that the rooms be purified, and I put back the temple equipment, along with the grain offering and the incense.
10 I also found out that the Levites hadn’t been given their portions, so they and the singers who did the work had gone back to their fields. 11 So I scolded the officials, asking, “Why is God’s house being neglected?” I gathered them together and set them in their stations.
12 Then all Judah brought the tenth-part gifts of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 I appointed the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites to be in charge over the storehouses. I also appointed Hanan, Zaccur’s son and Mattaniah’s grandson, as their assistant. These men were considered trustworthy, and their task was to hand out shares to their colleagues.
14 Remember me, my God, concerning this. Don’t erase my good deeds that I have done for my God’s house and for its services.
Keeping the Sabbath
15 In those days I saw people in Judah using the winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also collecting piles of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and every kind of load, and then bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath. I warned them at that time against selling food.
16 In addition, people from Tyre who lived in the city were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them to the people of Judah on the Sabbath. This happened in Jerusalem itself!
17 So I scolded the officials of Judah: “What is this evil thing that you are doing?” I asked. “You are making the Sabbath impure! 18 This is just what your ancestors did, and God brought all this evil upon us and upon this city. And now you are bringing more wrath upon Israel by making the Sabbath impure!”
19 So when it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I gave orders that the doors should be shut. I also ordered that they shouldn’t be reopened until after the Sabbath. To make sure that no load would come into the city[a] on the Sabbath, I stationed some of my own men at the gates. 20 Once or twice the traders and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them: “Why are you spending the night by the wall? If you do that again, I will lay hands on you!” At that point, they stopped coming on the Sabbath. 22 I also commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to come and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Remember this also in my favor, my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your mercy.
Marrying foreign women
23 Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of various peoples; they couldn’t speak the language of Judah.
25 So I scolded them and cursed them, and beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. I also made them swear a solemn pledge in the name of God, saying, “You won’t give your daughters to their sons in marriage, or take their daughters in marriage for your sons or yourselves. 26 Didn’t Israel’s King Solomon sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was well loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Yet foreign wives led even him into sin! 27 Should we then listen to you and do all this great evil, acting unfaithfully toward our God by marrying foreign women?”
28 Now one of the sons of Joiada son of the high priest Eliashib was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I chased him away from me.
29 Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priests and the Levites!
30 So I purified them of everything foreign and established the services of the priests and Levites with specific duties for each person. 31 I also provided for the wood offering at appointed times as well as for the early produce.
Remember me, my God, for good.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 13:19 Heb lacks the city.
Nehemiah 13
EasyEnglish Bible
Nehemiah tells people to obey God's Law
13 On that day, we read the book of Moses aloud to the people. One of the laws said that no descendant of Ammon or Moab should ever join with God's people when they met together. 2 This was because they had not given the Israelites food and water. Instead, they had paid Balaam to curse the Israelites. But God did not agree to curse them. He blessed them instead.[a]
3 When the Israelite people heard this law, they sent away all the people who had foreign ancestors.
4 Before this happened, I had given Eliashib the priest authority over the temple rooms where they stored special things. Eliashib was a friend of Tobiah.[b] 5 Eliashib let Tobiah use one of these rooms in the temple. It was a large room where they had stored the grain offerings, the incense and the special plates and tools that they used in the temple. They also stored the tithes of grain, wine and olive oil in that room. These gifts were for the Levites, the temple singers and guards, and also for the priests.
6 But when this happened, I was not in Jerusalem. In the 32nd year that King Artaxerxes ruled in Babylon, I had returned to visit him. After I had been there for some time, I asked the king to let me return to Jerusalem. 7 When I arrived back in Jerusalem, I heard about the evil thing that Eliashib had done. He had given Tobiah a large room in the yards of God's temple.[c] 8 I was very angry, so I threw all Tobiah's things out of the room. 9 I gave a command that they must make the rooms clean again. Then I put back the special plates and tools that they used in the temple. I also put back the grain offerings and the incense.
10 I also discovered that there was no food that should have been there for the Levites. As a result, the Levites and the singers had returned to work in their fields. They were not doing their work in God's temple. 11 I warned the officers. I told them, ‘You have stopped taking care of God's temple!’ Then I told the Levites and the other workers to return to their jobs in the temple.
12 After that, all the people in Judah brought their tithes of grain and wine and olive oil to store in the temple rooms. 13 I gave Shelemiah the priest, Zadok, the student of God's Law, and Pedaiah, a Levite, authority to take care of the rooms. Hanan, son of Zaccur and Mattaniah's grandson, helped them. People knew that these men were faithful workers. They had authority to give out the offerings to the other workers who served God.
14 Please remember what I have done, my God. I have been faithful to take care of the temple of my God, so that people can worship you there.
15 In those days, I saw people in Judah who were working on Sabbath days.[d] They were making wine. They were bringing their grain from the fields. They were making their donkeys carry the grain, as well as wine, grapes, figs and other things. They were bringing all those things into Jerusalem when it was a Sabbath day. I warned them that they must not sell things on any Sabbath day.
16 People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem sold fish and other things when it was a Sabbath day. They even brought those things into Jerusalem and sold them to the people of Judah. 17 I was angry with the leaders of Judah. I said to them, ‘You are doing an evil thing. You are not making the Sabbath a special day. 18 Your ancestors did the same thing. That is why God punished them and he brought trouble on this city. Now you will make God even more angry with us, Israel's people. You are insulting God's Sabbath day.’
19 So I gave a command to the guards at the city's gates. I told them, ‘You must close the gates in the evening before each Sabbath day begins. Do not open the gates again until the Sabbath day has finished.’ I told some of my own men to stand at the gates. They would watch carefully so that no traders would bring things into Jerusalem on any Sabbath day.
20 A few times, some traders stayed outside Jerusalem all night, with the things that they wanted to sell. 21 I warned them, ‘Do not stay beside the city's wall all night. If you do this again, I will take hold of you.’ After I said that, they did not come again to Jerusalem on a Sabbath day. 22 Then I told the Levites that they must make themselves ready to serve God. I told them to go and stand at the gates as guards. They must keep the Sabbath day as a special day for God.
My God, please remember this good thing that I have done. Because of your faithful love, please be kind to me.
23 Also at that time, I discovered that men from Judah had married foreign women.[e] They were women who came from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, or a language of the other foreign nations. They did not know how to speak the language of Judah.
25 I was angry with them. I asked God to curse them. I hit some of the men. I pulled out the hair of some of them. I told them to make a promise in God's name. I said to them, ‘You must not let your daughters marry the sons of those foreign people. You must not let their daughters marry your sons. You yourselves must not marry foreign women either. 26 Solomon, king of Israel, did a bad thing when he married foreign women. There was no other king as great as him in any other nation. God loved him. God chose him to be king over all Israel. But Solomon's foreign wives caused him to do bad things, even though he was so great.
27 We can never agree to all the evil things that you have done. If we all married foreign women, we would not be faithful to our God.’
28 Joiada was the son of Eliashib, the leader of the priests. One of Joiada's sons had married a daughter of Sanballat, who came from Horon. I sent Joiada's son away from Jerusalem.
29 My God, remember what these people have done. They have not been faithful to you as your priests. They have spoiled the covenant that you made with the priests and the other descendants of Levi.
30 After that, I made the priests and the Levites clean to serve God. I made them become separate from any foreign thing. I told each of them which job they should do. 31 I also made sure that people brought wood to the temple for sacrifices on the altar. I made them bring the first crops and fruits from their fields for the offerings.
My God, please remember to bless me.
Footnotes
- 13:2 This was at the time when the Israelites had left Egypt. They were travelling to the land that God had promised to give them. See Deuteronomy 23:3-5; Numbers 22:1-6.
- 13:4 ‘a friend’ or ‘a relative’
- 13:7 Because Tobiah was a foreigner and not a Jew, it was a very bad thing that Eliashib had done.
- 13:15 God had told Moses that the Israelites must not work on the Sabbath day. They must make it a special day to worship God. See Exodus 20:8-11.
- 13:23 God wants his people to worship only him. If the Israelites marry foreign wives, they may also start to worship foreign gods.
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