Foreigners Are Sent Away
1 On that day when the Law of Moses was read aloud to everyone, it was discovered that Ammonites and Moabites were forbidden to belong to the people of God. 2 This was because they had refused to give food and water to Israel and had hired Balaam to call down a curse on them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 Following the reading of the Law of Moses, the people of Israel started sending away anyone who had any foreign ancestors.
Nehemiah Makes Other Changes
4 The priest Eliashib was a relative of Tobiah and had earlier been put in charge of the temple storerooms. 5 So he let Tobiah live in one of these rooms, where all kinds of things had been stored—the grain offerings, incense, utensils for the temple, as well as the tenth of the grain, wine, and olive oil that had been given for the use of the Levites, singers, and temple guards, and the gifts for the priests.
6 This happened in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes ruled Babylonia. I was away from Jerusalem at the time, because I was visiting him. Later I received permission from the king 7 to return to Jerusalem. Only then did I find out that Eliashib had done this terrible thing of letting Tobiah have a room in the temple. 8 It upset me so much that I threw out every bit of Tobiah's furniture. 9 Then I ordered the room to be cleaned and the temple utensils, the grain offerings, and the incense to be brought back into the room.
10 I also found out that the temple singers and several other Levites had returned to work on their farms, because they had not been given their share of the harvest. 11 I called the leaders together and angrily asked them, “Why is the temple neglected?” Then I told them to start doing their jobs. 12 After this, everyone in Judah brought a tenth of their grain, wine, and olive oil to the temple storeroom. 13 Finally, I appointed three men with good reputations to be in charge of what was brought there and to distribute it to the others. They were Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher of the Law, and Pedaiah the Levite. Their assistant was Hanan, the son of Zaccur and the grandson of Mattaniah.
14 I pray that my God will remember these good things that I have done for his temple and for those who worship there.
The Sabbath
15 I also noticed what the people of Judah were doing on the Sabbath. Not only were they trampling grapes to make wine, but they were harvesting their grain, grapes, figs, and other crops, and then loading these on donkeys to sell in Jerusalem. So I warned them not to sell food on the Sabbath. 16 People who had moved to Jerusalem from the city of Tyre were bringing in fish and other things to sell there on the Sabbath. 17 I got angry and said to the leaders of Judah, “This evil you are doing is an insult to the Sabbath! 18 Didn't God punish us and this city because our ancestors did these very same things? And here you are, about to make God furious again by disgracing the Sabbath!”
19 I ordered the gates of Jerusalem to be closed on the eve of the Sabbath and not to be opened until after the Sabbath had ended. Then I put some of my own men in charge of the gates to make certain that nothing was brought in on the Sabbath. 20 Once or twice some merchants spent the night outside Jerusalem with their goods. 21 But I warned them, “If you do this again, I'll have you arrested.” From then on, they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 I ordered the Levites to make themselves holy and to guard the gates on the Sabbath, so that it would be kept holy.
God is truly merciful, and I pray that he will treat me with kindness and bless me for doing this.
Mixed Marriages
23 I discovered that some Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 About half of their children could not speak Hebrew—they spoke only the language of Ashdod or some other foreign language. 25 So in my anger, I called down curses on those men. I had them beaten and even pulled out the hair of some of them. Then I made them promise:
In the name of God we solemnly promise not to let our sons and daughters marry foreigners. 26 God dearly loved King Solomon of Israel and made him the greatest king on earth, but Solomon's foreign wives led him into sin. 27 So we will obey you and not rebel against our God by marrying foreign women.
28 Jehoiada, the son of the high priest Eliashib, had a son who had married a daughter of Sanballat from Horon, and I forced his son to leave.
29 I pray that God will punish them for breaking their priestly vows and disgracing the Levi tribe.
30 Then I made sure that the people were free from every foreign influence, and I assigned duties for the priests and Levites. 31 I also arranged for the people to bring firewood to the altar each day and for them to bring the first part of their harvest to the temple.
I pray that God will bless me for the good I have done.
Basi Baiziraela banodusiwa
1 Kwakati mu zhuba ilelo labakabe bebalila bathu lukwalo gwa Mushe, bakanowila panoti kusibe N'amoni kene Moabu ungadumigwa kungina mu gubungano le Ndzimu nenge limwe zhuba, 2 ngobe abazo bhatsha Baiziraela nge zojiwa nenge vula koga bakatapa Bhalamu kuti abalonge bhiso ndizo Ndzimu wedu ukashandula bhiso ilelo likabe gombolelo. 3 Baiziraela bakati behwa nlayo iwoyo ubagwa bakazwidusa mu bazhi kuti basibe mubali.
4 Mbeli kwa ikoku, Eliyashibi we mpirisiti wakabe abigwa ali iye wakalingisana nge kutjengeta matula e Ng'umba ye Ndzimu wedu, wakabe eshinga kwazo kwazo na Tobiya, 5 ngono wakalulwamisila Tobiya ng'umba hwuluhwulu yakabe ishingisiwa kubiganyigwa zwipo zwe mathunde ne zwino nnuwisa zwakanaka ne zwimwe zwija zwe Ng'umba ye Ndzimu ne zwebugumi zwe mathunde ne nkumbi we zhambi ne mafuta, izo zwakabe zwadusiwa nge nlayo wakapiwa Balevi ne bambi ne balingilili be mikoba ne bapirisiti. 6 Koga izwezwi zwakati zwishingikala ndakabe ndisi ku Jerusalema, ngobe mu gole le bumakole matatu ana makole mabili (32) ili gole la Atazezasi mambo we Bhabhiloni ndakayenda kuna mambo, koga shule kwe gole akumbila mambo kuti bandisunungule ndi bgwilile. 7 Ndizo wali azha mu Jerusalema, ngono abona bubi gwakathamwa ndi Eliyashibi gwekululwamisila Tobiya ng'umba mu bhakasa le Ng'umba ye Ndzimu. 8 Ngono ndakagwadza moyo kwazo, atola zwija zwa Tobiya azwiposela kuzhe. 9 Ngono kudwapo adusa ndaulo kuti ng'umba iyeyi itjenapadziwe, kube kubgwiliziwa zwija zose zwe Ng'umba ye Ndzimu nge tjipo tje mathunde ne tjinonuhwa zwakanaka.
10 Ndakawana ili kuti Balevi abazopiwa mitezho yabo, ngono awana ili kuti Balevi ne bambi bakabe bakalingisana nge nshingo we Ng'umba ye Ndzimu bakabgwilila ku minda yabo. 11 Ndakatukanya batungamili kuti ini Ng'umba ye Ndzimu yakaletjedzegwa. Ngono kudwapo ndakabadana abakubunganya ngono ababiga nge magalo abo. 12 Bathu bose be Juda bakazhisa zwebugumi zwe mathunde ne nkumbi we zhambi ne mafuta ku matula. 13 Ndakatola Shelemiya we mpirisiti na Zadoki we nkwalili na Pedaya we Nlevi ababiga kuti babe batjengeti be matula, ndakadwapo nditola Hanani nkololo wa Zakhuri, Zakhuri ali nkololo wa Mataniya kuti abe mbatshi wabo. Ndakatola balume ibaba ngobe bakabe bali balume banogalikabgwe kwazo, ndizo nshingo wabo wakabe uli kukoba zwimu matula. 14 Ndzimu wangu, mundikumbule ngekwa ikoku kwandakathama, ndomukumbila kuti musifupatile zwandakathama nge kugalabgwe ndithamila ng'umba yenyu, Ndzimu wangu ne nge mishingo inobhatigwa muili.
15 Kwakati mu mazhuba iyawo abona bathu be Juda beswina nkumbi nge zhuba le Sabata kakale bezhisa mathunde ne zhambi ne phaya ne zwimwe zwinjinji zwakasengwa nge madonki. Bakabe bezhisa zose izwezwi ku Jerusalema nge zhuba le Sabata, ndizo abatjemelela kutengesa mu zhuba ilelo. 16 Bamwe bathu be nzi we Tire bakabe begala mu Jerusalema bakabe bezhisa hwobe ne zwimwe zwithu zwakasiyana siyana ku Jerusalema, bezwitengesela bathu be Juda nge zhuba le Sabata. 17 Ngono ndakatukanya batungamili be Juda abadwa nditi, “Bubi gweni gungapa ngapa gwa munothama, mu temapadza zhuba le Sabata kene? 18 Kuti Ndzimu akowozhisa mang'oni iyawa mangapa mutili ne mu nzi nkulu, bobatategulu bedu abazobe bathama beijali kene? Ngono ngwenu mowandisa bushongola mu Baiziraela ngo temapadza zhuba le Sabata kene?” 19 Kwakati kutewusila mu madekwana adusa ndaulo kuti mikoba ye Jerusalema izhaligwe kusathu kukabe zhuba le Sabata, ngekuti kakale mikoba isizhugwe kuswikilila zhuba le Sabata lapinda. Ndakabiga balume bangu ku mikoba kuti kusibe mitolo inongina kene inozhisiwa nge zhuba le Sabata. 20 Kwakabe tjibaka nge tjibaka batengesi be thundu bakabe belala kuzhe kwe Jerusalema. 21 Koga ndakabatjemela abadwa nditi, “Ini muizela pa makuma kene? Ha muthama muijali ndowomukubadza.” Kudwa tjose mu zhuba ilelo abazotjazha mu zhuba le Sabata. 22 Kudwapo ndakadwa Balevi kuti bazwitjenapadze, babe beyenda banolingilila ku mikoba kuti ndizo zhuba le Sabata ligale lakatjenapala. Mundikumbule ngekwa ikoku kakale Ndzimu wangu, mube nge ludo gwenyu gusingazunguzike.
23 Mu mazhuba iyawo ndakawana kakale balume be Juda bakabe bakalobola bakadzi Baashidodi ne Amoni ne Moabu. 24 Gwamu le bana babo bakabe belebeleka Tjiashidodi kene ndimi ye ludzi gupoga koga basingatubule kulebeleka lulimi gwe Tjijuta. 25 Ndakabatuka, abalonga bhiso, bamwe balume ibo abaloba, asimula mavudzi abo, abatunisa mu zina le Ndzimu kuti abatjowopapha belobodza bakololokadzi babo ku bathu be bataya kene kuli kulobolela bakololo babo kene ibo bakalobola bakadzi be bataya. 26 Ate ili iyo ndobolo yakajali yakathama kuti Solomoni mambo we Iziraela atjinye kene? Mu zwitjaba zwinjinji kwakabe kusina mambo unonga iye. Wakabe ediwa nge Ndzimu uwe, kakale Ndzimu ukabiga kuti abe mambo we Iziraela, ne kwakajalo wakakwebegwa ku jinyo nge bakadzi be bataya. 27 Apa takafanila hwa mbipo yose iyeyi yamunothama kene, mutjinyila Ndzimu wedu ngolobola bakadzi mu bataya kene?
28 Mmwe we bakololo ba Jehoyada we nkololo wa Eliyashibi ntungamili we bapirisiti wakabe ali nkwasha wa Sanibalati we N'hori ngono ndakantata. 29 Ndzimu wangu, kumbulani koga kuti bakatemapadza tjini mishingo ye bupirisiti ne tjidumano tje bupirisiti ne Balevi. 30 Ndizo ndakatjenapadza bapirisiti ne Balevi mu zwithu zose zwe Bezwitjaba ngono abapa mishingo yabo yakabalingisana. 31 Ndakalulwamisila kuzhisiwa kwe hwuni dzinobesiwa akupisiwa zwibhayilo kuti dzizhisiwe nge tjibaka tjakafanila ne nge mitjelo yekutanga. Ndizo Ndzimu wangu ibeni nge lubu mu ndikumbule.