1On 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. to call down a curse on them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. ruled Babylonia. I was away from Jerusalem at the time, because I was visiting him. Later I received permission from the king
7to 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.
8It upset me so much that I threw out every bit of Tobiah's furniture.
9Then I ordered the room to be cleaned and the temple utensils, the grain offerings, and the incense to be brought back into the room.
10I 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. 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.
20Once or twice some merchants spent the night outside Jerusalem with their goods.
21But I warned them, “If you do this again, I'll have you arrested.” From then on, they did not come on the Sabbath.
22I 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 marriages23I discovered that some Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. and I forced his son to leave.
29I pray that God will punish them for breaking their priestly vows and disgracing the Levi tribe.
30Then I made sure that the people were free from every foreign influence, and I assigned duties for the priests and Levites.
31I 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.
Who We AreWhat We EelieveWhat We Do
2025 by iamachristian.org,Inc All rights reserved.
