Nehemiah 13:1–9

Foreigners Excluded

¹On that day ^athey read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it that ^bno Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,

²because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but ^ahired Balaam against them to curse them. However, ^bour God turned the curse into a blessing.

³So when they heard the law, ^athey excluded ^ball foreigners from Israel.

Tobiah Expelled and the Temple Cleansed

⁴Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, ^awho was appointed 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, wine and oil ^aprescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and 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 ¹learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, ^aby preparing a ²room for him in the courts of the house of God.

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

⁹Then I gave an order and ^athey cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.