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Foreigners Excluded |
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| Nehemiah 13:1 |
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On that day they read aloud from the book of
Moses in the hearing of the people; and there was found written in it that no
Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, |
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| Nehemiah 13:2 |
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because they did not meet the sons of Israel
with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our
God turned the curse into a blessing. |
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| Nehemiah 13:3 |
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So when they heard the law, they excluded all
foreigners from Israel. |
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Tobiah Expelled and the Temple Cleansed |
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| Nehemiah 13:4 |
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Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who
was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, |
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| Nehemiah 13:5 |
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had prepared a large room for him, where formerly
they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of
grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers,
and the contributions for the priests. |
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| Nehemiah 13:6 |
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But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem,
for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the
king. After some time, however, I asked leave from the king, |
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| Nehemiah 13:7 |
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and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the
evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, by preparing a room for him in the courts
of the house of God. |
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| Nehemiah 13:8 |
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It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all
of Tobiah's household goods out of the room. |
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| Nehemiah 13:9 |
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Then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms;
and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings
and the frankincense. |
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Tithes Restored |
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| Nehemiah 13:10 |
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I also discovered that the portions of the Levites
had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the
service had gone away, each to his own field. |
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| Nehemiah 13:11 |
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So I reprimanded the officials and said, "Why
is the house of God forsaken?" Then I gathered them together and restored them
to their posts. |
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| Nehemiah 13:12 |
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All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain,
wine and oil into the storehouses. |
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| Nehemiah 13:13 |
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In charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah
the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition to them
was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable,
and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen. |
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| Nehemiah 13:14 |
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Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot
out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services. |
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Sabbath Restored |
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| Nehemiah 13:15 |
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In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading
wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on
donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, and they brought
them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. So I admonished them on the day they sold
food. |
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| Nehemiah 13:16 |
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Also men of Tyre were living there who imported
fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the sabbath,
even in Jerusalem. |
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| Nehemiah 13:17 |
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Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said
to them, "What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day? |
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| Nehemiah 13:18 |
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"Did not your fathers do the same, so that our
God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the
wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath." |
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| Nehemiah 13:19 |
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It came about that just as it grew dark at the
gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut
and that they should not open them until after the sabbath. Then I stationed some
of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the sabbath day. |
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| Nehemiah 13:20 |
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Once or twice the traders and merchants of every
kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem. |
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| Nehemiah 13:21 |
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Then I warned them and said to them, "Why do
you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will use force
against you." From that time on they did not come on the sabbath. |
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| Nehemiah 13:22 |
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And I commanded the Levites that they should
purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the sabbath day. For this
also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness
of Your lovingkindness. |
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Mixed Marriages Forbidden |
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| Nehemiah 13:23 |
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In those days I also saw that the Jews had married
women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. |
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| Nehemiah 13:24 |
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As for their children, half spoke in the language
of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language
of his own people. |
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| Nehemiah 13:25 |
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So I contended with them and cursed them and
struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, "You
shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your
sons or for yourselves. |
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| Nehemiah 13:26 |
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"Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding
these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was
loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign
women caused even him to sin. |
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| Nehemiah 13:27 |
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"Do we then hear about you that you have committed
all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign
women?" |
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| Nehemiah 13:28 |
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Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib
the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away
from me. |
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| Nehemiah 13:29 |
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Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled
the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. |
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| Nehemiah 13:30 |
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Thus I purified them from everything foreign
and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task, |
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| Nehemiah 13:31 |
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and I arranged for the supply of wood at appointed
times and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. |
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