Nehemiah 13:1-3

Expanded Bible

Foreign People Are Sent Away

13 On that day they read aloud the ·Book [scroll] of Moses ·to [^Lin the ears/hearing of] the people, and they found that it said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever ·be allowed in the meeting to worship [enter the assembly of God; Deut. 23:3–6; ^CTobiah’s ancestry, v. 4, was Ammonite; 2:10]. ² The Ammonites and Moabites had not ·welcomed [^Lmet] the Israelites with ·food [^Lbread] and water. Instead, they had hired Balaam to put a curse on Israel [Num. 22–24]. (But our God turned the curse into a blessing.) ³ When the people heard this ·teaching [law; instruction; ^LTorah], they ·separated [excluded; removed] all foreigners [^Cincluding people of mixed ancestry] from Israel.