Foreigners Excluded
At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 1 Deu 23:3-5Neh 9:3Deu 31:11-12Neh 13:232Ki 23:2Ezk 25:1-11Act 13:15Act 15:21 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing). Deu 23:5Jos 24:9-10Mic 6:5Psa 109:28Mat 25:40Num 23:8-11Num 24:5-10Num 22:3-11
As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent. Neh 9:2Exo 12:38Neh 10:28Num 11:4Jas 1:27Ezr 10:11Pro 6:23Psa 119:11
The Temple Cleansed
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God Neh 12:44Neh 13:28Neh 2:10Neh 6:17-18Neh 12:10 and had prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the temple articles, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests. 2Ch 34:11Neh 10:38Neh 12:44Num 18:21-24
While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to Artaxerxes king of Babylon 2in the thirty-second year of his reign. Some time later I obtained leave from the king Neh 5:142Ch 24:17-18Exo 32:1Ezr 6:22Mat 13:25Neh 2:1Neh 2:5-6 to 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 the house of God. Neh 13:5Mat 21:12-131Co 1:11Act 21:28-29Ezr 9:1Lam 1:10Neh 13:1
And I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. Ezr 10:1Ezr 9:3-4Jhn 2:13-17Mrk 11:15-17Psa 69:9 Then I ordered that the rooms be purified, and I had the articles of the house of God restored to them, along with the grain offerings and frankincense. 2Ch 29:52Ch 29:15-19Neh 12:45
Tithes Restored
(Leviticus 27:30–34; Deuteronomy 14:22–29; Deuteronomy 26:1–15)
I also learned that because the portions for the Levites had not been given to them, all the Levites and singers responsible for performing the service had gone back to their own fields. Neh 10:37Mal 3:81Ti 5:17-18Deu 12:19Mal 1:6-14Neh 12:28-29Neh 12:47Num 35:2 So I rebuked the officials and asked, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” Neh 10:39Neh 13:17Neh 13:251Sa 2:17Job 31:34Mal 3:8-11Neh 5:6-13Pro 28:4
Then I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts, and all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and oil into the storerooms. Neh 10:37-39Mal 3:10Neh 12:44Deu 14:22Lev 27:30Num 18:20-26 I appointed as treasurers over the storerooms Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites. 2Ki 22:7Neh 7:21Co 4:22Ki 12:15Act 6:1Act 6:3Luk 16:10-12Neh 12:44
Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services. Psa 122:6-9Heb 6:10Neh 13:22Neh 13:312Ch 31:20-21Ezr 7:20Neh 5:191Ch 29:3
The Sabbath Restored
(Jeremiah 17:19–27)
In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day. Neh 10:31Exo 34:21Neh 13:21Exo 20:8-11Isa 58:13Jer 17:21-22Deu 5:12-14Deu 8:19 Additionally, men of Tyre who lived there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem. Exo 23:12Deu 5:14
Then I rebuked the nobles of Judah and asked, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day? Neh 13:11Neh 13:25Isa 1:10Jer 13:18Jer 22:2-23Jer 5:5Mic 3:1Mic 3:9 Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!” Jer 17:21-23Ezk 23:26Ezk 23:8Ezr 9:13-15Jer 17:27Jer 44:9Jos 22:17-18Lev 26:18
When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem, just before the Sabbath, I ordered that the gates be shut and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my servants at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day. Lev 23:32Exo 31:14-17Jer 17:19-22Lev 23:22Neh 7:3
Once or twice, the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem, but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they did not return on the Sabbath. Rom 13:3-41Pe 2:14Ezr 7:26Neh 13:15 Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Neh 12:30Neh 13:14Neh 13:311Ch 15:12-142Ch 29:242Ch 29:272Ch 29:302Ch 29:4-5
Remember me for this as well, O my God, and show me mercy according to Your abundant loving devotion.
Intermarriage Forbidden
(Ezra 9:1–4)
In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Ezr 9:1-2Ezr 10:10Neh 10:302Co 6:14Neh 13:1Ezr 10:441Sa 5:1Ezr 9:11-12 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah. Zep 3:9 I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Deu 7:3Ezr 10:5Neh 10:29-30Neh 13:17Neh 13:11Neh 5:132Ch 15:12-15Deu 25:2-3
Then I made them take an oath 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 for yourselves! Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin. 1Ki 11:1-81Ki 3:13Ecc 7:262Ch 1:122Sa 12:24-252Ch 9:22 Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?” Ezr 10:21Sa 30:24
Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me. Neh 2:19Neh 12:10Neh 12:22Neh 2:10Neh 3:1Neh 6:17-19Neh 13:25Neh 13:4-5
Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. Neh 6:14Lev 21:1-7Mal 2:4-8Num 16:9-10Num 25:12-131Sa 2:302Ti 4:14Mal 2:10-12
Thus I purified the priests and Levites from everything foreign, and I assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites. Neh 10:30Neh 12:1-261Ch 23:1-26 I also arranged for contributions of wood at the appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Neh 13:14Neh 13:22Psa 106:4Neh 10:34Psa 25:7Psa 26:8-9Luk 23:42
Remember me, O my God, with favor.