⁴ Now before this, Eliashib the priest^(A) had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God.^(B) He was a relative^[a] of Tobiah^{(C) 5} and 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 oil^(D) prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests.^(E)

⁶ While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to King Artaxerxes^(F) of Babylon^(G) in the thirty-second year of his reign.^(H) It was only later that I asked the king for a leave of absence^{(I) 7} so 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. ⁸ I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the room. ⁹ I ordered that the rooms be purified,^(J) and I had the articles of the house of God restored there, along with the grain offering and frankincense.^(K)