Nehemiah 13
1 On that day, when someone read to the people parts of the laws [that God gave] to Moses, they read where it was written that no one from the Ammon people-group or the Moab people-group was ever to be allowed to be with God’s people while they were gathered together [to worship].
| ביום ההוא נקרא בספר משה באזני העם ונמצא כתוב בו אשר לא יבוא עמני ומאבי בקהל האלהים עד עולם׃ |
2 The reason for that was that the people of Ammon and the people of Moab did not give/sell any food or water to the Israelis [while the Israelis were going through their areas after they left Egypt]. Instead, the people of Ammon and Moab paid money to Balaam in order that he would curse the Israelis. But God commanded Balaam to bless the people, not to curse them.
| כי לא קדמו את בני ישראל בלחם ובמים וישכר עליו את בלעם לקללו ויהפך אלהינו הקללה לברכה׃ |
3 So when the people heard these laws [being read to them], they sent away all the people whose ancestors had come from other countries.
| ויהי כשמעם את התורה ויבדילו כל ערב מישראל׃ |
4 Previously, Eliashib the priest had been appointed to be in charge of the storerooms in the temple. He was a relative of [our enemy] Tobiah.
| ולפני מזה אלישיב הכהן נתון בלשכת בית אלהינו קרוב לטוביה׃ |
5 He allowed Tobiah to use a large room in which they had previously stored the grain offerings and the incense, the equipment that is used in the temple, the offerings [that the people had brought] for the priests, and the tithes of grain and wine and [olive] oil that [God] had commanded the people to bring to the [other] descendants of Levi, and to the temple musicians, and to the temple guards.
| ויעש לו לשכה גדולה ושם היו לפנים נתנים את המנחה הלבונה והכלים ומעשר הדגן התירוש והיצהר מצות הלוים והמשררים והשערים ותרומת הכהנים׃ |
6 While [Tobias was using that room], I was not in Jerusalem, because in the 32nd year that Artaxerxes was the king of Babylonia, I went back there to report to him. After a while I requested the king to allow me to return to Jerusalem, [and he allowed me to go].
| ובכל זה לא הייתי בירושלם כי בשנת שלשים ושתים לארתחשסתא מלך בבל באתי אל המלך ולקץ ימים נשאלתי מן המלך׃ |
7 When I arrived in Jerusalem, I found out that Eliashib had done an evil thing by allowing Tobiah to use a room in God’s temple.
| ואבוא לירושלם ואבינה ברעה אשר עשה אלישיב לטוביה לעשות לו נשכה בחצרי בית האלהים׃ |
8 I became very angry, and I threw out of that room everything that belonged to Tobiah.
| וירע לי מאד ואשליכה את כל כלי בית טוביה החוץ מן הלשכה׃ |
9 Then I commanded [that they perform a ritual] to make the rooms (pure/acceptable to God) again. And I also ordered that all the equipment used in the temple and all the grain offerings and incense should be put in that room again.
| ואמרה ויטהרו הלשכות ואשיבה שם כלי בית האלהים את המנחה והלבונה׃ |
10 I also found out that the temple musicians and [other] descendants of Levi had left Jerusalem and returned to their fields/farms, because the Israeli people had not been bringing to them the food [that they needed].
| ואדעה כי מניות הלוים לא נתנה ויברחו איש לשדהו הלוים והמשררים עשי המלאכה׃ |
11 So I rebuked the officials, saying to them, “(Why have you not taken care of the work in the temple?/It is disgraceful that you have not taken care of the work in the temple.)” [RHQ] So I brought the descendants of Levi and the musicians back to the temple, and told them to do their work there again.
| ואריבה את הסגנים ואמרה מדוע נעזב בית האלהים ואקבצם ואעמדם על עמדם׃ |
12 Then all the people of Judah again started to bring to the temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and [olive] oil.
| וכל יהודה הביאו מעשר הדגן והתירוש והיצהר לאוצרות׃ |
13 I appointed these men to be in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah, who was a priest; Zadok, who knew the Jewish laws very well; and Pedaiah, a descendant of Levi. I appointed Hanan, who is the son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah, to assist them. I knew that I could trust these men while they distributed those offerings to their fellow workers.
| ואוצרה על אוצרות שלמיה הכהן וצדוק הסופר ופדיה מן הלוים ועל ידם חנן בן זכור בן מתניה כי נאמנים נחשבו ועליהם לחלק לאחיהם׃ |
14 My God, do not forget all these good things that I have faithfully done for your temple and for the work that is done there!
| זכרה לי אלהי על זאת ואל תמח חסדי אשר עשיתי בבית אלהי ובמשמריו׃ |
15 During that time, I saw some people in Judea [who were working] on the Sabbath day. [Some were] pressing grapes [to make wine]. Others were putting grain, [bags of] wine, [baskets of] grapes, figs, and many [HYP] other things, on their donkeys and taking them into Jerusalem. I warned them that they should not sell things to the people of Judea on Sabbath days.
| בימים ההמה ראיתי ביהודה דרכים גתות בשבת ומביאים הערמות ועמסים על החמרים ואף יין ענבים ותאנים וכל משא ומביאים ירושלם ביום השבת ואעיד ביום מכרם ציד׃ |
16 I also saw some people from Tyre [city] who were living there in Jerusalem who were bringing fish and other things [into Jerusalem] to sell to the people of Judea on the Sabbath day.
| והצרים ישבו בה מביאים דאג וכל מכר ומכרים בשבת לבני יהודה ובירושלם׃ |
17 So I rebuked the Jewish leaders and told them, “This is [RHQ] a very evil thing that you are doing! You are causing the Sabbath days to be unholy.
| ואריבה את חרי יהודה ואמרה להם מה הדבר הרע הזה אשר אתם עשים ומחללים את יום השבת׃ |
18 Your ancestors did [RHQ] things like that, so God punished them, and as a result, this city was destroyed! And now by causing the Sabbath day to be unholy, you are going to cause God to be angry with us Israeli people [and punish us] more!”
| הלוא כה עשו אבתיכם ויבא אלהינו עלינו את כל הרעה הזאת ועל העיר הזאת ואתם מוסיפים חרון על ישראל לחלל את השבת׃ |
19 So I ordered that at (the beginning of every Sabbath day/every Friday evening) they should shut the gates of the city before it became dark. I also ordered that they should not open the gates until (the Sabbath day was ended [the next day]/Saturday evening). Then [each Sabbath day] I put some of my men at the gates, so they would make sure that nothing to sell was brought into the city on that day.
| ויהי כאשר צללו שערי ירושלם לפני השבת ואמרה ויסגרו הדלתות ואמרה אשר לא יפתחום עד אחר השבת ומנערי העמדתי על השערים לא יבוא משא ביום השבת׃ |
20 One or two times merchants [DOU] stayed outside of the city on (Friday night/[the night before the Sabbath day]).
| וילינו הרכלים ומכרי כל ממכר מחוץ לירושלם פעם ושתים׃ |
21 I warned them, “It is useless [RHQ] for you to stay here outside the walls [on Friday night]! If you do this again, I will tell my men to arrest you!” So after that, they did not come on Sabbath days.
| ואעידה בהם ואמרה אליהם מדוע אתם לנים נגד החומה אם תשנו יד אשלח בכם מן העת ההיא לא באו בשבת׃ |
22 I also commanded the descendants of Levi to [perform the ritual to] purify themselves and to guard the city gates, to make sure that the Sabbath was kept holy [by not allowing merchants to enter it on Sabbath days]. My God, do not forget this also that I [have done for you]! And because of your faithfully loving me, allow me to continue to live [many more years]!
| ואמרה ללוים אשר יהיו מטהרים ובאים שמרים השערים לקדש את יום השבת גם זאת זכרה לי אלהי וחוסה עלי כרב חסדך׃ |
23 During that time, I also found out that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod [city], and from [the] Ammon and Moab [people-groups].
| גם בימים ההם ראיתי את היהודים השיבו נשים אשדודיות עמוניות מואביות׃ |
24 The result was that half of their children spoke the language that people in Ashdod speak or some other language, and they didn’t know how to speak our language.
| ובניהם חצי מדבר אשדודית ואינם מכירים לדבר יהודית וכלשון עם ועם׃ |
25 So I rebuked those men, and I [asked God to] curse them, and I beat them and pulled out [some of] their hair. Then I forced them to solemnly promise, knowing that God [MTY] was [listening], that they would never again marry foreigners, and never allow their children to marry foreigners.
| ואריב עמם ואקללם ואכה מהם אנשים ואמרטם ואשביעם באלהים אם תתנו בנתיכם לבניהם ואם תשאו מבנתיהם לבניכם ולכם׃ |
26 [I said to them], “Solomon, the king of Israel, sinned [RHQ] as a result of [marrying] foreign women. He was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him, and caused him to become the king of all the Israeli people, but his foreign wives caused even him to sin.
| הלוא על אלה חטא שלמה מלך ישראל ובגוים הרבים לא היה מלך כמהו ואהוב לאלהיו היה ויתנהו אלהים מלך על כל ישראל גם אותו החטיאו הנשים הנכריות׃ |
27 [Do you think that] we should do what you have done, and disobey our God by marrying foreign women [who worship idols]? [RHQ]”
| ולכם הנשמע לעשת את כל הרעה הגדולה הזאת למעל באלהינו להשיב נשים נכריות׃ |
28 One of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the Supreme Priest, had married the daughter of [our enemy] Sanballat, from Beth-Horon [town]. So I forced Jehoiada’s son to leave Jerusalem.
| ומבני יוידע בן אלישיב הכהן הגדול חתן לסנבלט החרני ואבריחהו מעלי׃ |
29 My God, do not forget that those people [who have married foreign women] have caused it to be a shame/disgrace to be a priest, and have caused people to despise the agreement that you made with the priests and with the [other] descendants of Levi [who help the priests])!
| זכרה להם אלהי על גאלי הכהנה וברית הכהנה והלוים׃ |
30 I did all that to make sure that there were no more foreign people among the [Israeli] people [who would encourage them to worship idols]. I also established regulations for the priests and [other] descendants of Levi, in order that they would know what work they should do.
| וטהרתים מכל נכר ואעמידה משמרות לכהנים וללוים איש במלאכתו׃ |
31 I also arranged for people to bring the firewood [that was needed to burn on the altar, as Moses had declared] that we should [do]. I also arranged for the people to bring the first part of what they harvested [each year]. My God, do not forget [that] I [have done all these things], and bless me [for doing them]!
| ולקרבן העצים בעתים מזמנות ולבכורים זכרה לי אלהי לטובה׃ |
