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    Nehemiah · 31 verses

    Nehemiah 13

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    The chapter

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    A room in the house of God becomes Tobiah’s furnished lodging, and when the narrator returns, the furniture goes out before the frankincense comes back in.

    The storeroom and the suppliesvv. 1–14

    The Book of Moses is read aloud, and the people respond by excluding those of foreign descent, because Ammon and Moab had withheld food and water and Balaam had been hired to curse Israel. Meanwhile Eliashib has made a large room for Tobiah inside the house of God, moving out the grain offerings, frankincense, temple articles, and tithes to make space. The narrator has been away in Babylon with Artaxerxes, but returns to Jerusalem, throws Tobiah’s household goods out, purifies the rooms, and restores the sacred supplies. He then discovers that the Levites and singers have gone back to their fields because their portions were missing. After rebuking the officials, he restores them to their posts, and Judah brings the tithes. Shelemiah, Zadok, Pedaiah, and Hanan are appointed to distribute the supplies, being trusted with the rather important business of making sure the storerooms do not become private apartments again.

    The Sabbath at the gatesvv. 15–22

    The Sabbath finds people in Judah treading winepresses, loading donkeys, and bringing goods into Jerusalem, while men of Tyre sell fish and merchandise there. The narrator rebukes the nobles, shuts Jerusalem’s gates before the Sabbath, and posts servants to stop the loads. The merchants camp outside the wall once or twice, as though the boundary might become less convincing if they slept beside it. The narrator warns them that a further attempt will meet his hands, and the merchants do not return. The Levites are then instructed to purify themselves and guard the gates.

    Foreign marriages and final arrangementsvv. 23–31

    The narrator next finds Jews married to women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab, with half their children speaking the language of Ashdod or other peoples but not the language of Judah. He rebukes the men, calls down curses, beats some, pulls out their hair, and makes them swear not to arrange such marriages. Solomon is brought forward as the grand example: loved by God and king over Israel, yet drawn into sin by foreign women. Even a son of Joiada, son of Eliashib the high priest, has become Sanballat’s son-in-law, and the narrator drives him away. The priests and Levites are purified from everything foreign, their duties assigned, and arrangements made for wood and firstfruits. The chapter ends with one more request to be remembered, this time with favor.

    The text

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    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Neh 13:1At 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,

    2. Neh 13:2because 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).

    3. Neh 13:3As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent.

    4. Neh 13:4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God

    5. Neh 13:5and 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.

    6. Neh 13:6While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to Artaxerxes king of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. Some time later I obtained leave from the king

    7. Neh 13:7to 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.

    8. Neh 13:8And I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.

    9. Neh 13:9Then 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.

    10. Neh 13:10I 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.

    11. Neh 13:11So I rebuked the officials and asked, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” Then I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts,

    12. Neh 13:12and all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and oil into the storerooms.

    13. Neh 13:13I 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.

    14. Neh 13:14Remember 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.

    15. Neh 13:15In 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.

    16. Neh 13:16Additionally, 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.

    17. Neh 13:17Then I rebuked the nobles of Judah and asked, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day?

    18. Neh 13:18Did 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!”

    19. Neh 13:19When 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.

    20. Neh 13:20Once or twice, the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem,

    21. Neh 13:21but 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.

    22. Neh 13:22Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this as well, O my God, and show me mercy according to Your abundant loving devotion.

    23. Neh 13:23In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

    24. Neh 13:24Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah.

    25. Neh 13:25I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. 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!

    26. Neh 13:26Did 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.

    27. Neh 13:27Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”

    28. Neh 13:28Even 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.

    29. Neh 13:29Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

    30. Neh 13:30Thus I purified the priests and Levites from everything foreign, and I assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites.

    31. Neh 13:31I also arranged for contributions of wood at the appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, with favor.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 268 passages were voted onto 30 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 1Deuteronomy 23:3–5No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.
    • 2Deuteronomy 23:5Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
    • 14Psalms 122:6–9Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper.
    • 31Nehemiah 13:14Remember 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.
    • 2Joshua 24:9–10Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,
    • 3Nehemiah 9:2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
    • 15Nehemiah 10:31When the people of the land bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on a Sabbath or holy day. Every seventh year we will let the fields lie fallow and will cancel every debt.
    • 261 Kings 11:1–8King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.
    • 31Nehemiah 13:22Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this as well, O my God, and show me mercy according to Your abundant loving devotion.
    • 2Numbers 23:8–11How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?
    • 2Psalms 109:28Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.
    • 2Micah 6:5My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”
    • 4Nehemiah 12:44And on that same day men were appointed over the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tithes. The portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites were gathered into these storerooms from the fields of the villages, because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who were serving.
    • 14Nehemiah 13:31I also arranged for contributions of wood at the appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, with favor.
    • 14Hebrews 6:10For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
    • 22Nehemiah 12:30After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

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