Nehemiah Returns and Restores the Community's Practices

Later, the book of Moses was read aloud to the people. They heard that Ammonites and Moabites were not to enter the assembly, because they had refused bread and water to Israel and had hired Balaam to curse them, though God turned the curse into a blessing. So the people separated the mixed multitude from Israel.

Nehemiah had been away with the king, but when he returned to Jerusalem he learned that Eliashib the priest had given Tobiah a large room in the courts of God’s house. That room had held offerings and supplies. Grieved by this, Nehemiah threw Tobiah’s belongings out, ordered the rooms cleansed, and restored the temple vessels and offerings.

He also discovered that the Levites and singers had not received their portions, so they had gone back to their fields. Nehemiah rebuked the rulers, gathered the workers, and put them back in place. Then all Judah brought tithes again, and Nehemiah appointed faithful treasurers to manage the storehouses and distribute supplies.

Nehemiah also saw people working, carrying loads, and selling food on the Sabbath. Men from Tyre were bringing fish and goods into Jerusalem to sell that day. He warned the nobles, shut the city gates before the Sabbath, stationed servants there, and warned the merchants camped outside the wall not to return on the Sabbath.

Nehemiah also found Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab, and many children could not speak the language of Judah. He confronted the men harshly, made them swear not to arrange such marriages, and warned them by Solomon’s example. He drove away one of Joiada’s sons, allied by marriage to Sanballat, then restored priestly and Levitical duties and prayed for God to remember him for good.