⁵had provided a large room for Tobiah. Previously, this room had been used to store grain offerings, incense, utensils, a tenth of all the grain harvested, new wine, and olive oil. These things belonged by law to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers. The contributions for the priests had also been stored there.

Nehemiah Evicts Tobiah from the Temple

⁶While all of this was taking place, I wasn’t in Jerusalem. In the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes’ reign in Babylon, I returned to the king.Later, I asked the king for permission to return. ⁷I went to Jerusalem and discovered the evil thing Eliashib had done by providing Tobiah with a room in God’s temple. ⁸I was furious. So I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. ⁹Then I told them to cleanse the rooms, and I put back in there the utensils from God’s temple, the offerings, and the incense.

Nehemiah Ensures That the Levites Receive Their Portion of the Offerings

¹⁰I learned that the Levites had not been given their portions. So each of the Levites and singers, who conducted the worship ⸤in the temple⸥, had left for their own fields. ¹¹I reprimanded the leaders. “Why is God’s temple being neglected?” I asked. So I brought the Levites back together and put them back in their places of service. ¹²Then all Judah brought a tenth of all the grain harvested, new wine, and olive oil to the storerooms.

Read in Logos