Nehemiah 13:5–12

⁵and had prepared a large room for him where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, and the tenths of grain, new wine, and oil ^jprescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests. ^k

⁶While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to King Artaxerxes ^lof Babylon ^min the thirty-second year of his reign. ⁿIt was only later that I asked the king for a leave of absence ^o7so I could 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 God’s house. ⁸I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the room. ⁹I ordered that the rooms be purified, ^pand I had the articles of the house of God restored there, along with the grain offering and frankincense. ^q10I also found out that because the portions for the Levites had not been given, ^reach of the Levites and the singers performing the service had gone back to his own field. ^s11Therefore, I rebuked the officials, saying, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” ^tI gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts. ^u12Then all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and oil into the storehouses. ^v