1On that day it was read from the book of Moses in the ears of the people, and there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,
2because they had not met the sons of Israel with bread and with water, but had hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3And it came about, when they heard the law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, appointed over the chamber of the house of our God and a relative of Tobiah,
5had made for him a great chamber, where formerly they used to put the grain offering, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithe of grain, new wine, and fresh oil—the portion prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers—and the contribution for the priests.
6But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had come to the king; and at the end of some days I asked leave of the king.
7And I came to Jerusalem and perceived the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in making him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.
8And it was very displeasing to me, and I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the chamber.
9Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers; and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.
10And I learned that the portions of the Levites had not been given, so that the Levites and the singers who did the work had each fled to his own field.
11So I contended with the officials and said, “Why has the house of God been forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them at their posts.
12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil into the storehouses.
13And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and next to them Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah; for they were considered trustworthy, and it was their duty to distribute to their brothers.
14Remember me, my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my acts of loyal love that I have done for the house of my God and for its services.
15In those days I saw in Judah men treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and every kind of load, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I warned them on the day they sold provisions.
16The Tyrians also who lived there brought in fish and every kind of merchandise, and sold on the Sabbath to the sons of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
17So I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?
18Did not your fathers act like this, so that our God brought all this evil upon us and upon this city? Yet you are bringing more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19And it came about, when the gates of Jerusalem grew dark before the Sabbath, that I gave orders and the doors were shut, and I commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so that no load should enter on the Sabbath day.
20So the traders and sellers of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.
22And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. This too remember for me, my God, and spare me according to the abundance of your loyal love.
23In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab.
24And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people.
25So I contended with them and cursed them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair; and I made them swear by God: “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin because of these? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; yet even him the foreign women caused to sin.
27Shall we then listen to you, to do all this great evil, to act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”
28And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; so I drove him away from me.
29Remember them, my God, because of their defiling of the priesthood and of the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
30Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his work;
31and for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, my God, for good.
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