Nehemiah 13:4–10

Tobiah’s Goods Removed from God’s House

⁴Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, ^awho was put in charge over the chambers of the house of our God, being ¹related to ^bTobiah,

⁵had prepared a large ¹room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils, and the tithes of grain, also new wine and oil ^acommanded for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers, as well as the ²contributions for the priests.

⁶But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in ^athe thirty-second year of ^bArtaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the king. After some time, however, I asked leave from the king,

⁷and I came to Jerusalem and discerned the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, ^aby preparing a chamber for him in the courts of the house of God.

⁸It was very evil to me, so I ^athrew all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the chamber.

⁹Then I said the word, and ^athey cleansed the chambers; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.

Why Is the House of God Forsaken?

¹⁰I also came to know that ^athe portions of the Levites had not been given them, so the Levites and the singers who did the work had fled, ^beach to his own field.