Nehemiah 13 - Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Foreigners Are Sent Away

13 (A) On that day when the Law of Moses was read aloud to everyone, it was discovered that Ammonites and Moabites were forbidden to belong to the people of God. 2 (B) This was because they had refused to give food and water to Israel and had hired Balaam[a] to call down a curse on them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 Following the reading of the Law of Moses, the people of Israel started sending away anyone who had any foreign ancestors.

Nehemiah Makes Other Changes

4 The priest Eliashib was a relative of Tobiah and had earlier been put in charge of the temple storerooms. 5 So he let Tobiah live in one of these rooms, where all kinds of things had been stored—the grain offerings, incense, utensils for the temple, as well as the tenth of the grain, wine, and olive oil that had been given for the use of the Levites, singers, and temple guards, and the gifts for the priests.

6 This happened in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes[b] ruled Babylonia. I was away from Jerusalem at the time, because I was visiting him. Later I received permission from the king 7 to return to Jerusalem. Only then did I find out that Eliashib had done this terrible thing of letting Tobiah have a room in the temple. 8 It upset me so much that I threw out every bit of Tobiah's furniture. 9 Then I ordered the room to be cleaned and the temple utensils, the grain offerings, and the incense to be brought back into the room.

10 (C) I also found out that the temple singers and several other Levites had returned to work on their farms, because they had not been given their share of the harvest. 11 I called the leaders together and angrily asked them, “Why is the temple neglected?” Then I told them to start doing their jobs. 12 (D) After this, everyone in Judah brought a tenth of their grain, wine, and olive oil to the temple storeroom. 13 Finally, I appointed three men with good reputations to be in charge of what was brought there and to distribute it to the others. They were Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher of the Law, and Pedaiah the Levite. Their assistant was Hanan, the son of Zaccur and the grandson of Mattaniah.

14 I pray that my God will remember these good things that I have done for his temple and for those who worship there.

The Sabbath

15 (E) I also noticed what the people of Judah were doing on the Sabbath. Not only were they trampling grapes to make wine, but they were harvesting their grain, grapes, figs, and other crops, and then loading these on donkeys to sell in Jerusalem. So I warned them not to sell food on the Sabbath. 16 People who had moved to Jerusalem from the city of Tyre were bringing in fish and other things to sell there on the Sabbath. 17 I got angry and said to the leaders of Judah, “This evil you are doing is an insult to the Sabbath! 18 Didn't God punish us and this city because our ancestors did these very same things? And here you are, about to make God furious again by disgracing the Sabbath!”

19 I ordered the gates of Jerusalem to be closed on the eve of the Sabbath[c] and not to be opened until after the Sabbath had ended. Then I put some of my own men in charge of the gates to make certain that nothing was brought in on the Sabbath. 20 Once or twice some merchants spent the night outside Jerusalem with their goods. 21 But I warned them, “If you do this again, I'll have you arrested.” From then on, they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 I ordered the Levites to make themselves holy and to guard the gates on the Sabbath, so that it would be kept holy.

God is truly merciful, and I pray that he will treat me with kindness and bless me for doing this.

Mixed Marriages

23 (F) I discovered that some Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 About half of their children could not speak Hebrew—they spoke only the language of Ashdod or some other foreign language. 25 So in my anger, I called down curses on those men. I had them beaten and even pulled out the hair of some of them. Then I made them promise:

In the name of God we solemnly promise not to let our sons and daughters marry foreigners. 26 (G) God dearly loved King Solomon of Israel and made him the greatest king on earth, but Solomon's foreign wives led him into sin. 27 So we will obey you and not rebel against our God by marrying foreign women.

28 (H) Jehoiada, the son of the high priest Eliashib, had a son who had married a daughter of Sanballat from Horon,[d] and I forced his son to leave.

29 I pray that God will punish them for breaking their priestly vows and disgracing the Levi tribe.

30 Then I made sure that the people were free from every foreign influence, and I assigned duties for the priests and Levites. 31 I also arranged for the people to bring firewood to the altar each day and for them to bring the first part of their harvest to the temple.

I pray that God will bless me for the good I have done.

Footnotes

  1. 13.2 Balaam: See Numbers 22.1-6.
  2. 13.6 Artaxerxes: See the note at 1.1.
  3. 13.19 eve of the Sabbath: The Jewish day began at sunset.
  4. 13.28 Horon: See the note at 2.10.

Cross references

  1. 13.1,2 : Dt 23.3-5.
  2. 13.2 : Nu 22.1-6.
  3. 13.10 : Dt 12.5-19.
  4. 13.12 : Ml 3.10.
  5. 13.15 : Ex 20.8-10; Dt 5.12-14; Jr 17.21-24.
  6. 13.23-25 : Ex 34.11-16; Dt 7.1-5.
  7. 13.26 a : 2 S 12.24,25; b 1 K 11.1-8.
  8. 13.28 : Ne 4.1.

You Might Also Like:

Nehemiah 13 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

13 On that day there was read in the book of Moses, in the ears of the people, and it hath been found written in it that an Ammonite and Moabite doth not come into the assembly of God -- unto the age, 2 because they have not come before the sons of Israel with bread and with water, and hire against ...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

13 Forsooth in that day it was read in the book of Moses, in (the) hearing of the people; and it was found written therein, that Ammonites and Moabites ought not to enter into the church of God till into without end; (And on that day they read from The Book of Moses, in the hearing of the people; an...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - World English Bible (WEB)

13 On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever, 2 because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - The Voice (VOICE)

13 Later that day, when the book of Moses was being read to the people, we discovered a passage that said no Ammonite or Moabite should be allowed to enter the sacred gatherings of God’s people.[a] 2 This prohibition went back to the time when our ancestors wandered in the desert—when the Ammonites ...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Please Remember This, My God13 On that day, the scroll of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people. The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should enter into the assembly of God forever. 2 For they did not meet Bnei-Yisrael with bread and water, but instead hired Ba...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Foreigners Separated from Israel13 On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God; 2 for they did not meet the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against ...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Foreigners Separated from Israel13 On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God; 2 for they did not meet the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against ...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Foreigners Separated from Israel13 On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2 because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Foreigners Separated from Israel13 On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,(A)2 because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water but hired Balaam against them...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Nehemiah’s Various Reforms13 On that same day, as the Book of Moses was being read to the people, the passage was found that said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God.[a] 2 For they had not provided the Israelites with food and water in the wilderness. Instead...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - New Life Version (NLV)

Nehemiah’s Last Words13 On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever gather together to worship with the people of God. 2 It was because they did not meet the sons of Israel with food and water, ...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Principles of Separation(A)13 On that day (B)they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written (C)that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but (D)hired Bala...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Nehemiah’s final reforms13 On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to cal...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - New International Version (NIV)

Nehemiah’s Final Reforms13 On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God,(A) 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam(B) t...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

13 At that time the Book of Moses was read out loud. All the people heard it. It was written there that no Ammonite or Moabite could ever become a member of God’s community. 2 That’s because they hadn’t given the people of Israel food and water. Instead, they had hired Balaam to put a curse on them...
Read More

Nehemiah 13 - New English Translation (NET)

Further Reforms by Nehemiah13 On that day the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing[a] of the people. They found[b] written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever enter the assembly of God, 2 for they had not met the Israelites with food[c] and water, but instead had hired Balaam to curse...
Read More