In those days the aristocrats of Judah repeatedly sent letters to Tobiah, and responses from Tobiah were repeatedly coming to them.

These are the people ¹  of the province who returned ²  from the captivity of the exiles, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile. ³  They returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his own city.

And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a woman from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).

The governor ¹  instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult ²  the Urim and Thummim.

What the rest of the people gave amounted to 20,000 gold drachmas, 2,000 silver minas, and 67 priestly garments.

So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food ¹  with others ²  and to enjoy tremendous joy, ³  for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.

“You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham.

You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illumine for them the path they were to travel.

even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious ¹  blasphemies.

Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law. They have not paid attention to your commandments or your testimonies by which you have solemnly admonished them.

“So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy ¹  its good things – we are slaves!

Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, ¹  and we are in great distress!

These are the priests and Levites who returned ¹  with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

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.

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!

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?

may your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you today throughout both day and night on behalf of your servants the Israelites. I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed ¹  against you – both I myself and my family ²  have sinned.

But if you repent ¹  and obey ²  my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, ³  I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’

and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined ¹  and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.”

I got up during the night, along with a few men who were with me. But I did not tell anyone what my God was putting on my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no animals with me, except for the one ¹  I was riding.