The walls have been rebuilt, and now it is time to restore the regular rhythms of religious life for the Jews. Despite the purification at the end of Ezra, and another purification at the start of today’s section, the Israelites keep tending towards faithlessness and impurity. Once again, we have lists of names and functionaries that serve as historical signposts.
Interestingly, the lists of names are part of how scholars determine the truth of any given book. Many books have been written, pretending to be contemporaneous with biblical times. However, they have been exposed as frauds because of the names they use.
Nehemiah 8
At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could listen and understand.
So Ezra read it aloud from daybreak until noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate, in front of the men and women and those who could understand.
And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for this occasion. At his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and at his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was standing above them all, and as he opened it, all the people stood up.
Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and with their hands uplifted, all the people said, “Amen, Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law as they stood in their places.
So they read from the Book of the Law of God, explaining it and giving insight, so that the people could understand what was being read.
Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.”
For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.
Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.”
Then all the people began to eat and drink, to send out portions, and to rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that had been made known to them.
On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and Levites, gathered around Ezra the scribe to study the words of the Law.
And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month.
So they proclaimed this message and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hill country and bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the court of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim.
The whole assembly who had returned from exile made booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated like this. And there was great rejoicing.
Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. The Israelites kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly, according to the ordinance.
Nehemiah 9
On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.
Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.
And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.
Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting:
Blessed be Your glorious name,
and may it be exalted
above all blessing and praise.
You alone are the LORD.
You created the heavens,
the highest heavens with all their host,
the earth and all that is on it,
the seas and all that is in them.
You give life to all things,
and the host of heaven worships You.
You are the LORD,
the God who chose Abram,
who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans
and gave him the name Abraham.
You found his heart faithful before You,
and made a covenant with him
to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites,
of the Amorites and Perizzites,
of the Jebusites and Girgashites—
to give it to his descendants.
You have kept Your promise,
because You are righteous.
You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt;
You heard their cry at the Red Sea.
You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
all his officials, and all the people of his land,
for You knew they had acted with arrogance
against our fathers.
You made a name for Yourself
that endures to this day.
You divided the sea before them,
and they crossed through it on dry ground.
You hurled their pursuers into the depths
like a stone into raging waters.
You led them with a pillar of cloud by day
and a pillar of fire by night,
to light for them the way
in which they should travel.
You came down on Mount Sinai
and spoke with them from heaven.
You gave them just ordinances, true laws,
and good statutes and commandments.
You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath
and gave them commandments and statutes and laws
through Your servant Moses.
In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven;
in their thirst You brought them water from the rock.
You told them to go in and possess the land
which You had sworn to give them.
But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked
and did not obey Your commandments.
They refused to listen and failed to remember
the wonders You performed among them.
They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader
to return them to their bondage in Egypt.
But You are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in loving devotion,
and You did not forsake them.
Even when they cast for themselves
an image of a calf and said,
‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’
and when they committed terrible blasphemies,
You in Your great compassion
did not forsake them in the wilderness.
By day the pillar of cloud never turned away
from guiding them on their path;
and by the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.
You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them.
You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths,
and You gave them water for their thirst.
For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness,
so that they lacked nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out
and their feet did not swell.
You gave them kingdoms and peoples
and allotted to them every corner of the land.
So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon
and of Og king of Bashan.
You multiplied their descendants
like the stars of heaven
and brought them to the land
You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
So their descendants went in and possessed the land;
You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land.
You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land,
to do with them as they wished.
They captured fortified cities and fertile land
and took houses full of all goods,
wells already dug,
vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled;
they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.
But they were disobedient and rebelled against You;
they flung Your law behind their backs.
They killed Your prophets,
who had admonished them to return to You.
They committed terrible blasphemies.
So You delivered them into the hands
of enemies who oppressed them,
and in their time of distress they cried out to You.
From heaven You heard them,
and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers
who saved them from the hands of their enemies.
But as soon as they had rest,
they again did evil in Your sight.
So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies,
who had dominion over them.
When they cried out to You again,
You heard from heaven,
and You delivered them many times
in Your compassion.
You admonished them to turn back to Your law,
but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments.
They sinned against Your ordinances,
by which a man will live if he practices them.
They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders;
they stiffened their necks and would not obey.
You were patient with them for many years,
and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen,
so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
But in Your great compassion,
You did not put an end to them;
nor did You forsake them,
for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God
who keeps His gracious covenant,
do not view lightly all the hardship
that has come upon us,
and upon our kings and leaders,
our priests and prophets,
our ancestors and all Your people,
from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.
You are just in all that has befallen us,
because You have acted faithfully,
while we have acted wickedly.
Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers
did not obey Your law
or listen to Your commandments
and warnings that You gave them.
For even while they were in their kingdom,
with the abundant goodness
that You had given them,
and in the spacious and fertile land
that You had set before them,
they would not serve You
or turn from their wicked ways.
So here we are today as slaves
in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—
here we are as slaves!
Its abundant harvest goes to the kings
You have set over us because of our sins.
And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please.
We are in great distress.
In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”
Nehemiah 10
Now these were the ones who sealed the document:
Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah,
and also Zedekiah,
Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah.
These were the priests.
The Levites:
Jeshua son of Azaniah,
Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel,
and their associates: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.
And the leaders of the people:
Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,
Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,
Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Ahijah, Hanan, Anan,
Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.
“The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the people of the land to obey the Law of God—along with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand,
hereby join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the Law of God given through His servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes of the LORD our Lord.
We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, and we will not take their daughters for our sons.
When 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.
We also place ourselves under the obligation to contribute a third of a shekel yearly for the service of the house of our God:
for the showbread, for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings, for the Sabbath offerings, for the New Moons and appointed feasts, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the duties of the house of our God.
We have cast lots among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our families at the appointed times each year. They are to bring it to the house of our God to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.
We will also bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the house of the LORD year by year.
And we will bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as it is written in the Law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God.
Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil. A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor.
A priest of Aaron’s line is to accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of these tithes to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God.
For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept and where the ministering priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers stay.
Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.”
Nehemiah 11
Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city of Jerusalem, while the remaining nine were to dwell in their own towns.
And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
These are the heads of the provinces who settled in Jerusalem. (In the villages of Judah, however, each lived on his own property in their towns—the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants—
while some of the descendants of Judah and Benjamin settled in Jerusalem.)
From the descendants of Judah:
Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, a descendant of Perez;
and Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, a descendant of Shelah.
The descendants of Perez who settled in Jerusalem totaled 468 men of valor.
From the descendants of Benjamin:
Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah;
and his followers Gabbai and Sallai—928 men. Joel son of Zichri was the officer over them, and Judah son of Hassenuah was over the Second District of the city.
From the priests:
Jedaiah son of Joiarib; Jachin;
Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief official of the house of God;
and their associates who did the work at the temple—822 men;
Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah;
and his associates, the leaders of families—242 men;
Amashai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer;
and his associates —128 mighty men of valor. Zabdiel son of Haggedolim was their overseer.
From the Levites:
Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;
Shabbethai and Jozabad, two leaders of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God;
Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.
The Levites in the holy city totaled 284.
And the gatekeepers:
Akkub, Talmon, and their associates, who kept watch at the gates—172 men.
The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the villages of Judah, each on his own inheritance.
The temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel, with Ziha and Gishpa over them.
Now the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. He was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the singers in charge of the service of the house of God.
For there was a command from the king concerning the singers, an ordinance regulating their daily activities.
Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, a descendant of Zerah son of Judah, was the king’s agent in every matter concerning the people.
As for the villages with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba, Dibon, Jekabzeel, and their villages; in Jeshua, Moladah, and Beth-pelet;
in Hazar-shual; in Beersheba and its villages; in Ziklag; in Meconah and its villages; in En-rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth,
Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages; in Lachish and its fields; and in Azekah and its villages. So they settled from Beersheba all the way to the Valley of Hinnom.
The descendants of Benjamin from Geba lived in Michmash, Aija, and Bethel with its villages; in Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
Lod, and Ono; and in the Valley of the Craftsmen.
And some divisions of the Levites of Judah settled in Benjamin.
Nehemiah 12
Now these are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:
Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,
Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,
Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.
These were the leaders of the priests and their associates in the days of Jeshua.
The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who, with his associates, led the songs of thanksgiving.
Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood across from them in the services.
Jeshua was the father of Joiakim,
Joiakim was the father of Eliashib,
Eliashib was the father of Joiada,
Joiada was the father of Jonathan,
and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.
In the days of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families:
of the family of Seraiah, Meraiah;
of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
of Ezra, Meshullam;
of Amariah, Jehohanan;
of Malluchi, Jonathan;
of Shebaniah, Joseph;
of Harim, Adna;
of Meraioth, Helkai;
of Iddo, Zechariah;
of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
of Abijah, Zichri;
of Miniamin and of Moadiah, Piltai;
of Bilgah, Shammua;
of Shemaiah, Jonathan;
of Joiarib, Mattenai;
of Jedaiah, Uzzi;
of Sallai, Kallai;
of Amok, Eber;
of Hilkiah, Hashabiah;
and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, during the reign of Darius the Persian, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded.
As for the descendants of Levi, the family heads up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles.
The leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their associates, who stood across from them to give praise and thanksgiving as one section alternated with the other, as prescribed by David the man of God.
Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates.
They served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.
At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from all their homes and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.
The singers were also assembled from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites,
from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem.
After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.
Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great thanksgiving choirs. One was to proceed along the top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate.
Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed, along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah,
and some of the priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,
and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani—with the musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the scribe led the procession.
At the Fountain Gate they climbed the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.
The second thanksgiving choir proceeded to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,
over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.
The two thanksgiving choirs then stood in the house of God, as did I, along with the half of the officials accompanying me,
as well as the priests with their trumpets—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah—
and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the choirs sang out under the direction of Jezrahiah.
On that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.
And 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.
They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed.
For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.
So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for the descendants of Aaron.
Nehemiah 13
At 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,
because 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).
As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent.
Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God
and 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.
While 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
to 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.
And I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.
Then 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.
I 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.
So 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, and all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and oil into the storerooms.
I 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.
Remember 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.
In 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.
Additionally, 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.
Then I rebuked the nobles of Judah and asked, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day?
Did 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!”
When 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.
Once or twice, the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem,
but 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.
Then 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.
In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah.
I 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!
Did 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.
Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”
Even 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.
Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
Thus I purified the priests and Levites from everything foreign, and I assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites.
I also arranged for contributions of wood at the appointed times, and for the firstfruits.
Remember me, O my God, with favor.
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