12:31 I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed 1 on the top of the wall southward toward the Dung Gate. 12:32 Going after them were Hoshaiah, half the leaders of Judah, 12:33 Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 12:34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 12:35 some of the priests 2 with trumpets, Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, 12:36 and his colleagues – Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani – with musical instruments of 3 David the man of God. (Ezra the scribe led them.) 4 12:37 They went over the Fountain Gate and continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall. They passed the house of David and continued on to the Water Gate toward the east.
12:38 The second choir was proceeding 5 in the opposite direction. I followed them, along with half the people, on top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 12:39 over the Ephraim Gate, the Jeshanah Gate, 6 the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. They stopped 7 at the Gate of the Guard.
12:40 Then the two choirs that gave thanks took their stations 8 in the temple of God. I did also, along with half the officials with me, 12:41 and the priests – Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with their trumpets – 12:42 and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam, and Ezer. The choirs sang loudly 9 under the direction of Jezrahiah. 12:43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.
12:44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes, to gather into them from 10 the fields of the cities the portions prescribed by the law for the priests and the Levites, for the people of Judah 11 took delight in the priests and Levites who were ministering. 12 12:45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, according to the commandment of David and 13 his son Solomon. 12:46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors 14 for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanks to God. 12:47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel was contributing the portions for the singers and gatekeepers, according to the daily need. 15 They also set aside 16 the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.
13:1 On that day the book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing 17 of the people. They found 18 written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever enter the assembly of God, 13:2 for they had not met the Israelites with food 19 and water, but instead had hired Balaam to curse them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into blessing.) 13:3 When they heard the law, they removed from Israel all who were of mixed ancestry.
13:4 But prior to this time, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been appointed over the storerooms 20 of the temple of our God. 13:5 He made for himself a large storeroom where previously they had been keeping 21 the grain offering, the incense, and the vessels, along with the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil as commanded for the Levites, the singers, the gate keepers, and the offering for the priests.
13:6 During all this time I was not in Jerusalem, 22 for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone back to the king. After some time 23 I had requested leave of the king, 13:7 and I returned to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by supplying him with a storeroom in the courts of the temple of God. 13:8 I was very upset, and I threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the storeroom. 13:9 Then I gave instructions that the storerooms should be purified, and I brought back the equipment 24 of the temple of God, along with the grain offering and the incense.
13:10 I also discovered that the grain offerings for the Levites had not been provided, and that as a result the Levites and the singers who performed this work had all gone off to their fields. 13:11 So I registered a complaint with the leaders, asking “Why is the temple of God neglected?” Then I gathered them and reassigned them to their positions. 25
13:12 Then all of Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms. 13:13 I gave instructions 26 that Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a certain Levite named Pedaiah be put in charge of 27 the storerooms, and that Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, be their assistant, 28 for they were regarded as trustworthy. It was then their responsibility to oversee the distribution to their colleagues. 29
13:14 Please remember me for this, O my God, and do not wipe out the kindness that I have done for the temple of my God and for its services!
13:15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in heaps of grain and loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them on the day that they sold these provisions. 13:16 The people from Tyre 30 who lived there were bringing fish and all kinds of merchandise and were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah – and in Jerusalem, of all places! 31 13:17 So I registered a complaint with the nobles of Judah, saying to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 13:18 Isn’t this the way your ancestors 32 acted, causing our God to bring on them and on this city all this misfortune? And now you are causing even more wrath on Israel, profaning the Sabbath like this!”
13:19 When the evening shadows 33 began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered 34 the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned 35 some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day. 13:20 The traders and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. 13:21 But I warned them and said, 36 “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you repeat this, I will forcibly remove you!” 37 From that time on they did not show up on the Sabbath. 38 13:22 Then I directed the Levites to purify themselves and come and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
For this please remember me, O my God, and have pity on me in keeping with your great love.
13:23 Also in those days I saw the men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 13:24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod (or the language of one of the other peoples mentioned 39 ) and were unable to speak the language of Judah. 13:25 So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, “You will not marry off 40 your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves! 13:26 Was it not because of things like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made 41 him king over all Israel. But the foreign wives made even him sin! 13:27 Should we then in your case hear that you do all this great evil, thereby being unfaithful to our God by marrying 42 foreign wives?”
13:28 Now one of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I banished him from my sight.
13:29 Please remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, 43 and the Levites.
13:30 So I purified them of everything foreign, and I assigned specific 44 duties to the priests and the Levites. 13:31 I also provided for 45 the wood offering at the appointed times and also for the first fruits.
Please remember me for good, O my God.
1 tc The translation reads וְהָאַחַת הֹלֶכֶת (vÿha’akhat holekhet, “and one was proceeding”) rather than the MT reading וְתַהֲלֻכֹת (vÿtahalukhot, “and processions”).
2 tn Heb “some of the sons of the priests.”
3 tn Or “prescribed by” (NIV, NLT); TEV “of the kind played by.” The precise relationship of these musical instruments to David is not clear.
4 tn Heb “was before them.”
5 tc The translation reads הוֹלֶכֶת (holekhet, “was proceeding”) rather than the MT הַהוֹלֶכֶת (haholekhet, “the one proceeding”). The MT probably reflects dittography – accidental writing of ה (hey) twice instead of once.
6 tn Or “the Old Gate” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).
7 tn Heb “they stood.”
8 tn Heb “stood.”
9 tn Heb “caused to hear.”
10 tc The translation reads מִשְּׂדֶי (missÿde, “from the fields”) rather than the MT reading לִשְׂדֵי (lisdey, “to the fields”).
11 tn Heb “for Judah.” The words “the people of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, since “Judah” is a proper name as well as a place name.
12 tn Heb “standing.”
13 tc With many medieval Hebrew
14 tn Heb “heads.” The translation reads with the Qere the plural רֹאשֵׁי (ro’shey, “heads”) rather than the Kethib singular רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head”) of the MT.
15 tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”
16 tn Heb “were sanctifying.”
17 tn Heb “ears.”
18 tn Heb “it was found.” The Hebrew verb is passive.
19 tn Heb “bread.” The Hebrew term is generic here, however, referring to more than bread alone.
20 tc The translation reads the plural rather than the singular of the MT.
21 tn Heb “giving.”
22 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
23 tn Heb “to the end of days.”
24 tn On the usage of this Hebrew word see HALOT 478-79 s.v. כְּלִי.
25 tn Heb “and I stood them on their standing.”
26 tc Probably one should read with the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate וָאֲצַוֶּה (va’atsavveh, “and I commanded”) rather than the rare denominative verb וָאוֹצְרָה (va’otsÿrah, “and I appointed over the storeroom”) of the MT.
27 tn Heb “be over”
28 tn Heb “on their hand.”
29 tn Heb “brothers.”
30 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
31 tn The words “of all places” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation to indicate the emphasis on Jerusalem.
32 tn Heb “your fathers.”
33 tn Heb “the gates of Jerusalem grew dark.”
34 tn Heb “said” (so also in v. 22).
35 tn Heb “caused to stand.”
36 tn The Hebrew text includes the words “to them,” but they have been excluded from the translation for stylistic reasons.
37 tn Heb “I will send a hand on you.”
38 sn This statement contains a great deal of restrained humor. The author clearly takes pleasure in the effectiveness of the measures that he had enacted.
39 tn Heb “people and people.”
40 tn Heb “give.”
41 tn Heb “gave.”
42 tn Heb “give a dwelling to.”
43 tc One medieval Hebrew
44 tn Heb “a man in his work.”
45 tn The words “I also provided for” are not included in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.