13^*When the Law of Moses was being read aloud to the people, they came to the passage that said that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God’s people. ²^*This was because the people of Ammon and Moab did not give food and water to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Instead, they paid money to Balaam to curse Israel, but our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³When the people of Israel heard this law read, they excluded all foreigners from the community.

Nehemiah’s Reforms

⁴The priest Eliashib, who was in charge of the temple storerooms, had for a long time been on good terms with Tobiah. ⁵He allowed Tobiah to use a large room that was intended only for storing offerings of corn and incense, the equipment used in the Temple, the offerings for the priests, and the tithes of corn, wine, and olive oil given to the Levites, to the temple musicians, and to the temple guards. ⁶While this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the 32nd year that Artaxerxes^w was king of Babylon I had gone back to report to him. After some time I received his permission ⁷and returned to Jerusalem. There I was shocked to find that Eliashib had allowed Tobiah to use a room in the Temple. ⁸I was furious and threw out all Tobiah’s belongings. ⁹I gave orders for the rooms to be ritually purified and for the temple equipment, grain offerings, and incense to be put back.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

wartaxerxes: As emperor of Persia, Artaxerxes also had the title “King of Babylon”.

Cross references

*13.1, 2: Dt 23:3–5
*13.1, 2: Dt 23:3–5 13.2: Nu 22:1–16