Nehemiah 13:22 - Prayer Tents

13Also on that same day there was a reading from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. It was found written there that no Ammonite or Moabite was permitted to enter the congregation of God,H3117H7121H5612H4872H241H5971H4672H3789H5984H4125H935H6951H430H5704H5769 2because they hadn't welcomed the People of Israel with food and drink; they even hired Balaam to work against them by cursing them, but our God turned the curse into a blessing.H6923H1121H3478H3899H4325H7936H1109H7043H430H2015H7045H1293 3When they heard the reading of The Revelation, they excluded all foreigners from Israel.H8085H8451H914H3478H6154 4Some time before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of The Temple of God. He was close to TobiahH6440H475H3548H5414H3957H1004H430H7138H2900 5and had made available to him a large storeroom that had been used to store Grain-Offerings, incense, worship vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil for the Levites, singers, and security guards, and the offerings for the priests.H6213H1419H3957H6440H5414H4503H3828H3627H4643H1715H8492H3323H4687H3881H7891H7778H8641H3548 6When this was going on I wasn't there in Jerusalem; in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, I had traveled back to the king. But later I asked for his permission to leave again.H3389H8147H7970H8141H783H4428H894H935H4428H7093H3117H7592H4428 7I arrived in Jerusalem and learned of the wrong that Eliashib had done in turning over to him a room in the courts of The Temple of God.H935H3389H995H7451H475H6213H2900H6213H5393H2691H1004H430 8I was angry, really angry, and threw everything in the room out into the street, all of Tobiah's stuff.H3415H3966H7993H1004H3627H2900H2351H3957 9Then I ordered that they ceremonially cleanse the room. Only then did I put back the worship vessels of The Temple of God, along with the Grain-Offerings and the incense.H559H2891H3957H7725H3627H1004H430H4503H3828 10And then I learned that the Levites hadn't been given their regular food allotments. So the Levites and singers who led the services of worship had all left and gone back to their farms.H3045H4521H3881H5414H3881H7891H6213H4399H1272H376H7704 11I called the officials on the carpet, "Why has The Temple of God been abandoned?" I got everyone back again and put them back on their jobsH7378H5461H559H1004H430H5800H6908H5975H5977 12so that all Judah was again bringing in the tithe of grain, wine, and oil to the storerooms.H935H3063H4643H1715H8492H3323H214 13I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms. I made Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, their right-hand man. These men had a reputation for honesty and hard work. They were responsible for distributing the rations to their brothers.H686H214H8018H3548H6659H5608H3881H6305H3027H2605H1121H2139H1121H4983H2803H539H2505H251 14Remember me, O my God, for this. Don't ever forget the devoted work I have done for The Temple of God and its worship.H2142H430H4229H2617H6213H1004H430H4929 15During those days, while back in Judah, I also noticed that people treaded wine presses, brought in sacks of grain, and loaded up their donkeys on the Sabbath. They brought wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of stuff to sell on the Sabbath. So I spoke up and warned them about selling food on that day.H3117H7200H3063H1869H1660H7676H935H6194H6006H2543H3196H6025H8384H4853H935H3389H7676H3117H5749H3117H4376H6718 16Tyrians living there brought in fish and whatever else, selling it to Judeans—in Jerusalem, mind you!—on the Sabbath.H3427H6876H935H1709H1709H4377H4376H7676H1121H3063H3389 17I confronted the leaders of Judah: "What's going on here? This evil! Profaning the Sabbath!H7378H2715H3063H559H7451H1697H6213H2490H7676H3117 18Isn't this exactly what your ancestors did? And because of it didn't God bring down on us and this city all this misery? And here you are adding to it—accumulating more wrath on Jerusalem by profaning the Sabbath."H6213H1H935H430H935H7451H5892H935H3254H2740H3478H2490H7676 19As the gates of Jerusalem were darkened by the shadows of the approaching Sabbath, I ordered the doors shut and not to be opened until the Sabbath was over. I placed some of my servants at the gates to make sure that nothing to be sold would get in on the Sabbath day.H8179H3389H6751H6440H7676H559H1817H5462H559H6605H310H7676H5288H5975H8179H4853H935H7676H3117 20Traders and dealers in various goods camped outside the gates once or twice.H7402H4376H4465H3885H2351H3389H6471H8147 21But I took them to task. I said, "You have no business camping out here by the wall. If I find you here again, I'll use force to drive you off." And that did it; they didn't come back on the Sabbath.H5749H559H3885H5048H2346H8138H7971H3027H6256H935H7676 22Then I directed the Levites to ceremonially cleanse themselves and take over as guards at the gates to keep the sanctity of the Sabbath day. Remember me also for this, my God. Treat me with mercy according to your great and steadfast love.H559H3881H2891H935H8104H8179H6942H7676H3117H2142H430H2347H7230H2617 23Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.H3117H7200H3064H3427H802H796H5984H4125 24Half the children couldn't even speak the language of Judah; all they knew was the language of Ashdod or some other tongue.H1121H1696H2677H797H5234H1696H3066H3956H5971H5971 25So I took those men to task, gave them a piece of my mind, even slapped some of them and jerked them by the hair. I made them swear to God: "Don't marry your daughters to their sons; and don't let their daughters marry your sons—and don't you yourselves marry them!H7378H7043H5221H582H4803H7650H430H5414H1323H1121H5375H1323H1121 26Didn't Solomon the king of Israel sin because of women just like these? Even though there was no king quite like him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel, foreign women were his downfall.H8010H4428H3478H2398H7227H1471H4428H157H430H430H5414H4428H3478H1571H5237H802H2398 27Do you call this obedience—engaging in this extensive evil, showing yourselves faithless to God by marrying foreign wives?"H8085H6213H1419H7451H4603H430H3427H5237H802 28One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; I drove him out of my presence.H1121H3111H1121H475H1419H3548H2860H5571H2772H1272 29Remember them, O my God, how they defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priests and Levites.H2142H430H1352H3550H1285H3550H3881 30All in all I cleansed them from everything foreign. I organized the orders of service for the priests and Levites so that each man knew his job.H2891H5236H5975H4931H3548H3881H376H4399 31I arranged for a regular supply of altar wood at the appointed times and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.H6086H7133H6256H2163H1061H2142H430H2896