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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Nehemiah 13</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/bsb/spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/nehemiah/13.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmc//nehemiah/13-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/nehemiah/">Nehemiah</a> > Nehemiah 13</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../nehemiah/12.htm" title="Nehemiah 12">◄</a> Nehemiah 13 <a href="../esther/1.htm" title="Esther 1">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div align="center" id="jump2"><a href="/niv/nehemiah/13.htm">NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/nehemiah/13.htm">NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/nehemiah/13.htm">ESV</a> • <a href="/kjv/nehemiah/13.htm">KJV</a> • <a href="/nkjv/nehemiah/13.htm">NKJ</a> • <a href="/nasb/nehemiah/13.htm">NAS</a></div><br /><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="1%" valign="top">BSB</td><td width="99%" valign="top" align="right"><a href="/parallel/nehemiah/13.htm" style="font-weight:normal" title="Parallel Chapters">Parallel Chapters ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">Foreigners Excluded<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> <A name="3"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing). <A name="4"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent. <A name="5"></a><p class="hdg">The Temple Cleansed<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God <A name="6"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>and had prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the temple articles, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests. <A name="7"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to Artaxerxes king of Babylon<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">b</a></span> in the thirty-second year of his reign. Some time later I obtained leave from the king <A name="8"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>to 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 the house of God. <A name="9"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>And I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. <A name="10"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Then I ordered that the rooms be purified, and I had the articles of the house of God restored to them, along with the grain offerings and frankincense. <A name="11"></a><p class="hdg">Tithes Restored<br /><span class="cross">(<a href ="../leviticus/27.htm#30">Leviticus 27:30–34</a>; <a href ="../deuteronomy/14.htm#22">Deuteronomy 14:22–29</a>; <a href ="../deuteronomy/26.htm">Deuteronomy 26:1–15</a>)</span><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>I also learned that because the portions for the Levites had not been given to them, all the Levites and singers responsible for performing the service had gone back to their own fields. <A name="12"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>So I rebuked the officials and asked, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” <p class="reg"> Then I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts, <A name="13"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>and all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and oil into the storerooms. <A name="14"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>I appointed as treasurers over the storerooms Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites. <A name="15"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services. <A name="16"></a><p class="hdg">The Sabbath Restored<br /><span class="cross">(<a href ="../jeremiah/17.htm#19">Jeremiah 17:19–27</a>)</span><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day. <A name="17"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Additionally, men of Tyre who lived there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem. <A name="18"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Then I rebuked the nobles of Judah and asked, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day? <A name="19"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!” <A name="20"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem, just before the Sabbath, I ordered that the gates be shut and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my servants at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day. <A name="21"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Once or twice, the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem, <A name="22"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they did not return on the Sabbath. <A name="23"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. <p class="reg"> Remember me for this as well, O my God, and show me mercy according to Your abundant loving devotion. <A name="24"></a><p class="hdg">Intermarriage Forbidden<br /><span class="cross">(<a href ="../ezra/9.htm">Ezra 9:1–4</a>)</span><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. <A name="25"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah. <A name="26"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. <p class="reg"> Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves! <A name="27"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin. <A name="28"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?” <A name="29"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me. <A name="30"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. <A name="31"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>Thus I purified the priests and Levites from everything foreign, and I assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/13-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>I also arranged for contributions of wood at the appointed times, and for the firstfruits. <p class="reg"> Remember me, O my God, with favor.</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">1</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> See <a href="../deuteronomy/23.htm#3">Deuteronomy 23:3–6</a>.<br><span class="fnverse">6</span> <span class="footnotesbot">b</span> Artaxerxes king of Persia is identified here as the king of Babylon because Persia had conquered the Babylonian Empire.<br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Berean Bible (<a href=http://berean.bible>www.Berean.Bible</a>) <a href=http://bereanbible.com>Berean Study Bible (BSB)</a> © 2016, 2020 by <a href=http://biblehub.com>Bible Hub</a> and <a href=http://berean.bible>Berean.Bible</a>. 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