Principles of Separation

13 On that day athey read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written bthat no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but chired Balaam against them to curse them. dHowever, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 So it was, when they had heard the Law, ethat they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

The Reforms of Nehemiah

4 Now before this, fEliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with gTobiah. 5 And he had prepared for him a large room, hwhere previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, iwhich were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests. 6 But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, jfor in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king, 7 and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in kpreparing a room for him in the courts of the 1house of God. 8 And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. 9 Then I commanded them to lcleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

10 I also realized that the portions for the Levites had mnot been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to nhis field. 11 So oI contended with the rulers, and said, p“Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their place. 12 qThen all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. 13 rAnd I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered sfaithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.

14 tRemember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services!

15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses uon the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, vwhich they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. 16 Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? 18 wDid not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

19 So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it xbegan to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. yThen I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of 2wares 3lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.

21 Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night 4around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that zthey should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.

Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!

23 In those days I also saw Jews who ahad married women of bAshdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.

25 So I ccontended with them and 5cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them dswear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. 26 eDid not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, fwho was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. gNevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin. 27 Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, htransgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?”

28 And one of the sons iof Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of jSanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.

29 kRemember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and lthe covenant of the priesthood and the …

The People Confess Their Sins

9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of athis month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, band with 1dust on their heads. 2 Then cthose of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and dconfessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and eread from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.

4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the 2stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said:

“Stand up and bless the Lord your God

Forever and ever!

“Blessed be fYour glorious name,

Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!

6 gYou alone are the Lord;

hYou have made heaven,

iThe heaven of heavens, with jall their host,

The earth and everything on it,

The seas and all that is in them,

And You kpreserve them all.

The host of heaven worships You.

7 “You are the Lord God,

Who chose lAbram,

And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,

And gave him the name mAbraham;

8 You found his heart nfaithful before You,

And made a ocovenant with him

To give the land of the Canaanites,

The Hittites, the Amorites,

The Perizzites, the Jebusites,

And the Girgashites—

To give it to his descendants.

You phave performed Your words,

For You are righteous.

9 “You qsaw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,

And rheard their cry by the Red Sea.

10 You sshowed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,

Against all his servants,

And against all the people of his land.

For You knew that they tacted 3proudly against them.

So You umade a name for Yourself, as it is this day.

11 vAnd You divided the sea before them,

So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;

And their persecutors You threw into the deep,

wAs a stone into the mighty waters.

12 Moreover You xled them by day with a cloudy pillar,

And by night with a pillar of fire,

To give them light on the road

Which they should travel.

13 “You ycame down also on Mount Sinai,

And spoke with them from heaven,

And gave them zjust ordinances and true laws,

Good statutes and commandments.

14 You made known to them Your aholy Sabbath,

And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws,

By the hand of Moses Your servant.

15 You bgave them bread from heaven for their hunger,

And cbrought them water out of the rock for their thirst,

And told them to dgo in to possess the land

Which You had 4sworn to give them.

16 “But ethey and our fathers acted 5proudly,

fHardened 6their necks,

And did not heed Your commandments.

17 They refused to obey,

And gthey were not mindful of Your wonders

That You did among them.

But they hardened their necks,

And 7in their rebellion

They appointed ha leader

To return to their bondage.

But You are God,

Ready to pardon,

iGracious and merciful,

Slow to anger,

Abundant in kindness,

And did not forsake them.

18 “Even jwhen they made a molded calf for themselves,

And said, ‘This is your god

That brought you up out of Egypt,’

And worked great provocations,

19 Yet in Your kmanifold mercies

You did not forsake them in the wilderness.

The lpillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,

To lead them on the road;

Nor the pillar of fire by night,

To show them light,

And the way they should go.

20 You also gave Your mgood Spirit to instruct them,

And did not withhold Your nmanna from their mouth,

And gave them owater for their thirst.

21 pForty years You sustained them in the wilderness;

They lacked nothing;

Their qclothes did not wear out

And their feet did not swell.

22 “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,

And divided them into 8districts.

So they took possession of the land of rSihon,

9The land of the king of Heshbon,

And the land of Og king of Bashan.

23 You also multiplied stheir children as the stars of heaven,

And brought them into the land

Which You had told their fathers

To go in and possess.

24 So tthe 1people went in

And possessed the land;

uYou subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,

The Canaanites,

And gave them into their hands,

With their kings

And the people of the land,

That they might do with them as they wished.

25 And they took strong cities and a vrich land,

And possessed whouses full of all goods,

Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,

And 2fruit trees in abundance.

So they ate and were filled and xgrew fat,

And delighted themselves in Your great ygoodness.

26 “Nevertheless they zwere disobedient

And rebelled against You,

aCast Your law behind their backs

And killed Your bprophets, who 3testified against them

To turn them to Yourself;

And they worked great provocations.

27 cTherefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,

Who oppressed them;

And in the time of their trouble,

When they cried to You,

You dheard from heaven;

And according to Your abundant mercies

eYou gave them deliverers who saved them

From the hand of their enemies.

28 “But after they had rest,

fThey