Nehemiah 13:1-9

1On that day, we read the book of Moses aloud to the people. One of the laws said that no descendant of Ammon or Moab should ever join with God's people when they met together.

2This was because they had not given the Israelites food and water. Instead, they had paid Balaam to curse the Israelites. But God did not agree to curse them. He blessed them instead.

3When the Israelite people heard this law, they sent away all the people who had foreign ancestors.

4Before this happened, I had given Eliashib the priest authority over the temple rooms where they stored special things. Eliashib was a friend of Tobiah.

5Eliashib let Tobiah use one of these rooms in the temple. It was a large room where they had stored the grain offerings, the incense and the special plates and tools that they used in the temple. They also stored the tithes of grain, wine and olive oil in that room. These gifts were for the Levites, the temple singers and guards, and also for the priests.

6But when this happened, I was not in Jerusalem. In the 32nd year that King Artaxerxes ruled in Babylon, I had returned to visit him. After I had been there for some time, I asked the king to let me return to Jerusalem.

7When I arrived back in Jerusalem, I heard about the evil thing that Eliashib had done. He had given Tobiah a large room in the yards of God's temple.

8I was very angry, so I threw all Tobiah's things out of the room.

9I gave a command that they must make the rooms clean again. Then I put back the special plates and tools that they used in the temple. I also put back the grain offerings and the incense.