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28 The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters—everyone who had knowledge, and understanding— 29 joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of Yahweh our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes; 30 and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons; 31 and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and that we would forego the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.

32 Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel[a] for the service of the house of our God; 33 for the show bread, for the continual meal offering, for the continual burnt offering, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34 We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on Yahweh our God’s altar, as it is written in the law; 35 and to bring the first fruits of our ground, and the first fruits of all fruit of all kinds of trees, year by year, to Yahweh’s house; 36 also the firstborn of our sons, and of our livestock, as it is written in the law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God; 37 and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, our wave offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, and the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. 38 The priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes. The Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms, into the treasure house. 39 For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the wave offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, to the rooms, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and the priests who minister, with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not forsake the house of our God.

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Footnotes

  1. 10:32 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.

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.”