Nehemiah 8-13

Christian Standard Bible

8 all the people gathered together^(A) at the square in front of the Water Gate.^(B) They asked the scribe Ezra^(C) to bring the book of the law of Moses^(D) that the Lord had given Israel. ²On the first day of the seventh month,^(E) the priest Ezra^(F) brought the law^(G) before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding. ³While he was facing the square in front of the Water Gate,^(H) he read out of it from daybreak until noon before the men, the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively^[a] to the book of the law.^(I) ⁴The scribe Ezra stood on a high wooden platform^(J) made for this purpose. Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah stood beside him on his right; to his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. ⁵Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was elevated above everyone. As he opened it, all the people stood up. ⁶Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and with their hands uplifted^(K) all the people said, “Amen, Amen!” ^(L) Then they knelt low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.^(M)

⁷Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah,^(N) who were Levites,^[b]^(O) explained the law^(P) to the people as they stood in their places. ⁸They read out of the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read. ⁹Nehemiah the governor,^(Q) Ezra the priest and scribe,^(R) and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day^(S) is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.”^(T) For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. ¹⁰Then he said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared,^(U) since today^(V) is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.”^[c]^(W) ¹¹And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still,^(X) since today^(Y) is holy. Don’t grieve.” ¹²Then all the people began to eat and drink, send portions, and have a great celebration,^(Z) because they had understood the words that were explained to them.

Festival of Shelters Observed

¹³On the second day, the family heads of all the people, along with the priests and Levites,^(AA) assembled before the scribe Ezra^(AB) to study the words of the law. ¹⁴They found written in the law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should dwell in shelters during the festival of the seventh month.^(AC) ¹⁵So they proclaimed and spread this news throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hill country and bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make shelters, just as it is written.”^(AD) ¹⁶The people went out, brought back branches, and made shelters for themselves on each of their rooftops^(AE) and courtyards, the court of the house of God, the square by the Water Gate,^(AF) and the square by the Ephraim Gate.^(AG) ¹⁷The whole community that had returned from exile^(AH) made shelters and lived in them. The Israelites had not celebrated like this from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day.^(AI) And there was tremendous joy.^(AJ) ¹⁸Ezra^[d] read out of the book of the law of God^(AK) every day, from the first day to the last. The Israelites celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.^(AL)

National Confession of Sin

9 On the twenty-fourth day of this month^(AM) the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads.^(AN) ²Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners,^(AO) and they stood^(AP) and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.^(AQ) ³While they stood in their places,^(AR) they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day and spent another fourth of the day^(AS) in confession^(AT) and worship of the Lord their God. ⁴Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the raised platform built for the Levites^(AU) and cried out loudly to the Lord their God. ⁵Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah^(AV)—said, “Stand up. Blessed be the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting.”^(AW)

Blessed be your glorious name,^(AX)
and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
⁶You,^[e] Lord, are the only God.^[f]^(AY)
You created the heavens,
the highest heavens with all their stars,
the earth and all that is on it,
the seas and all that is in them.
You give life to all of them,^(AZ)
and all the stars of heaven worship you.^(BA)
⁷You, the Lord,
are the God who chose Abram
and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,^(BB)
and changed his name to Abraham.^(BC)
⁸You found his heart faithful in your sight,^(BD)
and made a covenant with him
to give the land of the Canaanites,
Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Jebusites, and Girgashites—
to give it to his descendants.^(BE)
You have fulfilled your promise,
for you are righteous.

⁹You saw the oppression of our ancestors in Egypt^(BF)
and heard their cry at the Red Sea.
¹⁰You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
all his officials, and all the people of his land,^(BG)
for you knew how arrogantly they treated our ancestors.
You made a name for yourself
that endures to this day.
¹¹You divided the sea before them,
and they crossed through it on dry ground.^(BH)
You hurled their pursuers into the depths
like a stone into raging water.^(BI)
¹²You led them with a pillar of cloud by day,
and with a pillar of fire by night,
to illuminate the way they should go.^(BJ)
¹³You came down on Mount Sinai,^(BK)
and spoke to them from heaven.
You gave them impartial ordinances, reliable instructions,
and good statutes and commands.
¹⁴You revealed your holy Sabbath to them,
and gave them commands, statutes, and instruction
through your servant Moses.^(BL)
¹⁵You provided bread from heaven^(BM) for their hunger;
you brought them water from the rock^(BN) for their thirst.
You told them to go in and possess the land
you had sworn^[g] to give them.^(BO)

¹⁶But our ancestors acted arrogantly;
they became stiff-necked and did not listen to your commands.
¹⁷They refused to listen
and did not remember your wonders
you performed among them.^(BP)
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
to return to their slavery in Egypt.^[h]^(BQ)
But you are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in faithful love,^(BR)
and you did not abandon them.
¹⁸Even after they had cast an image of a calf
for themselves and said,
“This is your god who brought you out of Egypt,”^(BS)
and they had committed terrible blasphemies,
¹⁹you did not abandon them in the wilderness
because of your great compassion.
During the day the pillar of cloud
never turned away from them,
guiding them on their journey.
And during the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.^(BT)
²⁰You sent your good Spirit^(BU) to instruct them.
You did not withhold your manna^(BV) from their mouths,
and you gave them water for their thirst.^(BW)
²¹You provided for them in the wilderness forty years,^(BX)
and they lacked nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.^(BY)

²²You gave them kingdoms and peoples
and established boundaries for them.
They took possession
of the land of King Sihon^[i] of Heshbon
and of the land of King Og of Bashan.^(BZ)
²³You multiplied their descendants
like the stars of the sky^(CA)
and brought them to the land
you told their ancestors to go in and possess.
²⁴So their descendants went in and possessed the land:
You subdued the Canaanites who inhabited the land before them
and handed their kings and the surrounding peoples over to them,^(CB)
to do as they pleased with them.
²⁵They captured fortified cities and fertile land
and took possession of well-supplied houses,
cisterns cut out of rock, vineyards,
olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.^(CC)
They ate, were filled,
became prosperous, and delighted in your great goodness.

²⁶But they were disobedient and rebelled against you.
They flung your law behind their backs^(CD)
and killed your prophets^(CE)
who warned them
in order to turn them back to you.
They committed terrible blasphemies.
²⁷So you handed them over to their enemies,
who oppressed them.
In their time of distress, they cried out to you,
and you heard from heaven.
In your abundant compassion
you gave them deliverers, who rescued them
from the power of their enemies.
²⁸But as soon as they had relief,
they again did what was evil in your sight.
So you abandoned them to the power of their enemies,
who dominated them.
When they cried out to you again,
you heard from heaven and rescued them
many times in your compassion.^(CF)
²⁹You warned them to turn back to your law,
but they acted arrogantly
and would not obey your commands.
They sinned against your ordinances,
which a person will live by if he does them.^(CG)
They stubbornly resisted,^[j]
stiffened their necks, and would not obey.
³⁰You were patient with them for many years,
and your Spirit warned them through your prophets,^(CH)
but they would not listen.
Therefore, you handed them over to the surrounding peoples.^(CI)
³¹However, in your abundant compassion,
you did not destroy them or abandon them,^(CJ)
for you are a gracious and compassionate God.^(CK)

³²So now, our God—the great, mighty,
and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant^(CL)—
do not view lightly all the hardships that have afflicted us,
our kings and leaders,
our priests and prophets,
our ancestors and all your people,
from the days of the Assyrian kings^(CM) until today.
³³You are righteous concerning all that has happened to us,
because you have acted faithfully,
while we have acted wickedly.^(CN)
³⁴Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors
did not obey your law
or listen to your commands
and warnings you gave them.
³⁵When they were in their kingdom,
with your abundant goodness that you gave them,
and in the spacious and fertile land you set before them,^(CO)
they would not serve you or turn from their wicked ways.

³⁶Here we are today,
slaves in the land you gave our ancestors
so that they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness.
Here we are—slaves in it!^(CP)
³⁷Its abundant harvest goes to the kings
you have set over us,
because of our sins.
They rule over our bodies
and our livestock as they please.^(CQ)
We are in great distress.

Israel’s Vow of Faithfulness

³⁸In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement^(CR) in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.^(CS)

10 Those whose seals were on the document were

the governor Nehemiah^(CT) son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,

²Seraiah,^(CU) Azariah, Jeremiah,

³Pashhur,^(CV) Amariah, Malchijah,

⁴Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,

⁵Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,

⁶Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,

⁷Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,

⁸Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah.

These were the priests.

⁹The Levites^(CW) were

Jeshua son of Azaniah,

Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel,

¹⁰and their brothers

Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,

¹¹Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,

¹²Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,

¹³Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.

¹⁴The heads of the people^(CX) were

Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,

¹⁵Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,

¹⁶Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,^(CY)

¹⁷Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,

¹⁸Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,

¹⁹Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,

²⁰Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,

²¹Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,

²²Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,

²³Hoshea, Hananiah,^(CZ) Hasshub,

²⁴Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,

²⁵Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,

²⁶Ahijah, Hanan, Anan,

²⁷Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

²⁸The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who is able to understand^(DA) and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples^(DB) to obey the law of God— ²⁹join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath^[k]^(DC) to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses^(DD) and to obey carefully all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of the Lord our Lord.

Details of the Vow

³⁰We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples and will not take their daughters as wives for our sons.^(DE)

³¹When the surrounding peoples bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day.^(DF) We will also leave the land uncultivated in the seventh year^(DG) and will cancel every debt.^(DH)

³²We will impose the following commands on ourselves:

To give an eighth of an ounce of silver^[l] yearly for the service of the house of our God:^(DI) ³³the bread displayed before the Lord,^[m]^(DJ) the daily grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbath and New Moon offerings,^(DK) the appointed festivals, the holy things, the sin offerings to atone for Israel,^(DL) and for all the work of the house of our God.

³⁴We have cast lots^(DM) among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our ancestral families^[n] at the appointed times each year. They are to bring the wood to our God’s house to burn on the altar of the Lord our God,^(DN) as it is written in the law.

³⁵We will bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the Lord’s house year by year.^(DO) ³⁶We will also bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as prescribed by the law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God,^(DP) to the priests who serve in our God’s house. ³⁷We will bring a loaf from our first batch of dough^(DQ) to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God. We will also bring the firstfruits of our grain offerings, of every fruit tree, and of the new wine and fresh oil.^(DR) A tenth of our land’s produce belongs to the Levites, for the Levites are to collect the one-tenth offering in all our agricultural towns.^(DS) ³⁸A priest from Aaron’s descendants is to accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth,^(DT) and the Levites are to take a tenth of this offering to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God.^(DU) ³⁹For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and fresh oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept^(DV) and where the priests who minister are, along with the gatekeepers and singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.^(DW)

Resettling Jerusalem

11 Now the leaders of the people stayed in Jerusalem,^(DX) and the rest of the people cast lots^(DY) for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city,^(DZ) while the other nine-tenths remained in their towns.^(EA) ²The people blessed all the men who volunteered^(EB) to live in Jerusalem.

³These are the heads of the province who stayed in Jerusalem^(EC) (but in the villages of Judah each lived on his own property in their towns^(ED)—the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants^(EE)— ⁴while some of the descendants of Judah and Benjamin settled in Jerusalem):

Judah’s^(EF) descendants:

Athaiah son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of Perez’s descendants; ⁵and Maaseiah son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, a descendant of the Shilonite. ⁶The total number of Perez’s descendants, who settled in Jerusalem, was 468 capable men.

⁷These were Benjamin’s descendants:

Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, ⁸and after him Gabbai and Sallai: 928. ⁹Joel son of Zichri was the officer over them, and Judah son of Hassenuah was second in command over the city.

¹⁰The priests:

Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jachin, and ¹¹Seraiah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief official of God’s temple, ¹²and their relatives who did the work at the temple: 822. Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah ¹³and his relatives, the heads of families: 242. Amashsai son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, ¹⁴and their relatives, capable men: 128. Zabdiel son of Haggedolim, was their chief.

¹⁵The Levites:

Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; ¹⁶and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the heads of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God; ¹⁷Mattaniah son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, the one^[o] who began the thanksgiving in prayer;^(EG) Bakbukiah, second among his relatives; and Abda son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun.^(EH) ¹⁸All the Levites in the holy city:^(EI) 284.

¹⁹The gatekeepers:

Akkub, Talmon, and their relatives, who guarded the city gates: 172.

²⁰The rest of Israel, the priests, and the Levites were in all the villages of Judah, each on his own inherited property.^(EJ) ²¹The temple servants lived on Ophel;^(EK) Ziha and Gishpa supervised the temple servants.

The Levites and Priests

²²The leader of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the descendants of Asaph, who were singers for the service of God’s house. ²³There was, in fact, a command of the king regarding them, and an ordinance regulating the singers’^(EL) daily tasks. ²⁴Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, of the descendants of Zerah^(EM) son of Judah, was the king’s^(EN) agent^[p] in every matter concerning the people.

²⁵As for the farming settlements with their fields:

Some of Judah’s descendants lived in Kiriath-arba^(EO)

and Dibon and their surrounding villages,^(EP) and Jekabzeel and its settlements;

²⁶in Jeshua, Moladah,^(EQ) Beth-pelet,

²⁷Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba^(ER) and its surrounding villages;

²⁸in Ziklag^(ES) and Meconah and its surrounding villages;

²⁹in En-rimmon, Zorah,^(ET) Jarmuth,^(EU) and

³⁰Zanoah^(EV) and Adullam with their settlements;

in Lachish^(EW) with its fields and Azekah^(EX) and its surrounding villages.

So they settled from Beer-sheba^(EY) to Hinnom Valley.^(EZ)

³¹Benjamin’s descendants:

from Geba,^[q]^(FA) Michmash,^(FB) Aija,

and Bethel^(FC) and its surrounding villages,

³²Anathoth,^(FD) Nob,^(FE) Ananiah,

³³Hazor,^(FF) Ramah,^(FG) Gittaim,^(FH)

³⁴Hadid, Zeboim,^(FI) Neballat,

³⁵Lod, and Ono,^(FJ) in Craftsmen’s Valley.

³⁶Some of the Judean divisions of Levites were in Benjamin.

12 These^(FK) are the priests and Levites^(FL) who went up with Zerubbabel^(FM) son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:

Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

²Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,

³Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

⁴Iddo,^(FN) Ginnethoi, Abijah,^(FO)

⁵Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,

⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,^(FP)

⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah.

These were the heads of the priests and their relatives in the days of Jeshua.^(FQ)

⁸The Levites:

Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel,

Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah^(FR)—

he and his relatives were in charge of the songs of praise.

⁹Bakbukiah, Unni,^[r] and their relatives stood opposite them in the services.

¹⁰Jeshua fathered Joiakim,

Joiakim fathered Eliashib,

Eliashib^(FS) fathered Joiada,

¹¹Joiada fathered Jonathan,

and Jonathan fathered Jaddua.^[s]

¹²In the days of Joiakim, the heads of the priestly families were

Meraiah	of Seraiah,
Hananiah	of Jeremiah,
¹³Meshullam	of Ezra,
Jehohanan	of Amariah,
¹⁴Jonathan	of Malluchi,
Joseph	of Shebaniah,
¹⁵Adna	of Harim,
Helkai	of Meraioth,
¹⁶Zechariah	of Iddo,
Meshullam	of Ginnethon,
¹⁷Zichri	of Abijah,
Piltai	of Moadiah, of Miniamin,
¹⁸Shammua	of Bilgah,
Jehonathan	of Shemaiah,
¹⁹Mattenai	of Joiarib,
Uzzi	of Jedaiah,
²⁰Kallai	of Sallai,
Eber	of Amok,
²¹Hashabiah	of Hilkiah,
and Nethanel	of Jedaiah.

²²In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded while Darius the Persian ruled. ²³Levi’s descendants, the family heads, were recorded in the Book of the Historical Events^(FT) during the days of Johanan son of Eliashib. ²⁴The heads of the Levites—Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their relatives opposite them—gave praise and thanks, division by division, as David the man of God had prescribed.^(FU) ²⁵This included Mattaniah,^(FV) Bakbukiah, and Obadiah. Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the city gates.^(FW) ²⁶These served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor^(FX) and Ezra the priest and scribe.^(FY)

Dedication of the Wall

²⁷At the dedication of the wall^(FZ) of Jerusalem, they sent for the Levites wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.^(GA) ²⁸The singers gathered from the region around Jerusalem, from the settlements of the Netophathites,^(GB) ²⁹from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built settlements for themselves around Jerusalem. ³⁰After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the city gates, and the wall.^(GC)

³¹Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large processions that gave thanks. One went to the right on the wall, toward the Dung Gate.^(GD) ³²Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed, ³³along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets, and Zechariah son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph followed ³⁶as well as his relatives—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David, the man of God.^(GE) Ezra the scribe^(GF) went in front of them. ³⁷At the Fountain Gate^(GG) they climbed the steps of the city of David^(GH) on the ascent of the wall and went above the house of David to the Water Gate^(GI) on the east.

³⁸The second thanksgiving procession went to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens^(GJ) to the Broad Wall,^(GK) ³⁹above the Ephraim Gate,^(GL) and by the Old Gate,^(GM) the Fish Gate,^(GN) the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate.^(GO) They stopped at the Gate of the Guard.^(GP) ⁴⁰The two thanksgiving processions stood in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials accompanying me, ⁴¹as well as the priests:

Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin,

Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah,

and Hananiah, with trumpets;

⁴²and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar,

Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer.

Then the singers sang, with Jezrahiah as the leader. ⁴³On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy.^(GQ) The women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem’s rejoicing was heard far away.^(GR)

Support of the Levites’ Ministry

⁴⁴On that same day men were placed in charge of the rooms^(GS) that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths.^(GT) The legally required portions for the priests and Levites^(GU) were gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving.^(GV) ⁴⁵They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers,^(GW) as David and his son Solomon had prescribed.^(GX) ⁴⁶For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph,^(GY) there were heads^[t] of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.^(GZ) ⁴⁷So in the days of Zerubbabel^(HA) and Nehemiah,^(HB) all Israel contributed the daily portions^(HC) for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions^(HD) for Aaron’s descendants.

Nehemiah’s Further Reforms

13 At that time^(HE) the book of Moses^(HF) was read publicly to^[u] the people.^(HG) The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite^(HH) should ever enter the assembly of God,^(HI) ²because they did not meet the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they hired Balaam against them to curse them,^(HJ) but our God turned the curse into a blessing.^(HK) ³When they heard the law, they separated all those of mixed descent^(HL) from Israel.

⁴Now before this, the priest Eliashib^(HM) had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God.^(HN) He was a relative^[v] of Tobiah^(HO) ⁵and had prepared a large room for him where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, and the tenths of grain, new wine, and fresh oil^(HP) prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests.^(HQ)

⁶While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to King Artaxerxes^(HR) of Babylon^(HS) in the thirty-second year of his reign.^(HT) It was only later that I asked the king for a leave of absence^(HU) ⁷so I could return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house. ⁸I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the room. ⁹I ordered that the rooms be purified,^(HV) and I had the articles of the house of God restored there, along with the grain offering and frankincense.^(HW) ¹⁰I also found out that because the portions for the Levites had not been given,^(HX) each of the Levites and the singers performing the service had gone back to his own field.^(HY) ¹¹Therefore, I rebuked the officials, asking, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” ^(HZ) I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts.^(IA) ¹²Then all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and fresh oil into the storehouses.^(IB) ¹³I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy.^(IC) They were responsible for the distribution to their colleagues.^(ID)

¹⁴Remember me for this, my God, and don’t erase the deeds of faithful love I have done for the house of my God and for its services.^(IE)

¹⁵At that time I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in stores of grain and loading them on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.^(IF) ¹⁶The Tyrians living there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem.^(IG)

¹⁷I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day?^(IH) ¹⁸Didn’t your ancestors do the same, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city?^(II) And now you are rekindling his anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”

¹⁹When shadows began to fall on the city gates of Jerusalem just before the Sabbath, I gave orders that the city gates be closed and not opened until after the Sabbath.^(IJ) I posted some of my men at the gates, so that no goods could enter during the Sabbath day.^(IK) ²⁰Once or twice the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem, ²¹but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I’ll use force^[w] against you.” After that they did not come again on the Sabbath. ²²Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves^(IL) and guard the city gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.^(IM)

Remember me for this also, my God,^(IN) and look on me with compassion according to the abundance of your faithful love.^(IO)

²³In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.^(IP) ²⁴Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples but could not speak Hebrew.^[x]^(IQ) ²⁵I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair.^(IR) I forced them to take an oath^(IS) before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves!^(IT) ²⁶Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin.^(IU) ²⁷Why then should we hear about you doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?” ^(IV) ²⁸Even one of the sons of Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib,^(IW) had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite.^(IX) So I drove him away from me.^(IY)

²⁹Remember them, my God, for defiling the priesthood as well as the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.^(IZ)

³⁰So I purified them from everything foreign^(JA) and assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites.^(JB) ³¹I also arranged for the donation of wood at the appointed times and for the firstfruits.^(JC)

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

Footnotes

8:3 Lit The ears of all the people listened
8:7 Vg, 1 Esdras 9:48; MT reads Pelaiah and the Levites
8:10 Or stronghold
8:18 Some Hb mss, Syr read They
9:6 LXX reads And Ezra said: You
9:6 Lit are alone
9:15 Lit lifted your hand
9:17 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read in their rebellion
9:22 One Hb ms, LXX; other Hb mss, Vg read of Sihon, even the land of the king
9:29 Lit They gave a stubborn shoulder
10:29 Lit and enter in a curse and in an oath
10:32 Lit give one-third of a shekel
10:33 Lit rows of bread
10:34 Lit the house of our fathers
11:17 Lit the head
11:24 Lit was at the king’s hand
11:31 Or descendants from Geba lived in
12:9 Alt Hb tradition reads Unno
12:10–11 These men were high priests.
12:46 Alt Hb tradition reads there was a head
13:1 Lit read in the ears of
13:4 Or an associate
13:21 Lit again, I will send a hand
13:24 Lit Judahite

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