Nehemiah 13:9-19

9 Then I gave an order and ¹they cleansed the rooms; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.

Tithes Restored

10 I also discovered that ²the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, ³each to his own field.

11 So I ⁴reprimanded the officials and said, "⁵Why is the house of God forsaken?" Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts.

12 All Judah then brought ⁶the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses.

13 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 ⁷they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen.

14 ⁸Remember 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.

Sabbath Restored

15 In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses ⁹on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, ¹⁰and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. So ¹¹I admonished them on the day they sold food.

16 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.

17 Then ¹²I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day?

18 "¹³Did 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."

19 ¹⁴It 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.

Read Chapter Compare

Nehemiah 13:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 13

This chapter relates the reformation of various abuses crept in among the Jews by Nehemiah, who removed the Moabites and Ammonites, mixed with them, Ne 13:1-3, threw the household goods of Tobiah out of a chamber of the temple, and restored it to its former use, Ne 13:4-9, took care that the Levites had their portion given them which had been kept from them, Ne 13:10-14 prevented the profanation of the sabbath by selling goods on that day, Ne 13:15-22, and put a stop to the marrying of strange wives, which had prevailed again among them, Ne 13:23-31.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 14

1. 2 Chr 29:5, 15, 16
2. Deuteronomy 12:19; Nehemiah 10:37
3. Nehemiah 12:28, 29
4. Nehemiah 13:17, 25
5. Nehemiah 10:39
6. Nehemiah 10:37; Nehemiah 12:44; Malachi 3:10
7. Nehemiah 7:2
8. Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 13:22, 31
9. Exodus 20:8; Exodus 34:21; Deuteronomy 5:12-14; Jeremiah 17:22
10. Nehemiah 10:31; Jeremiah 17:21
11. Nehemiah 9:29; Nehemiah 13:21
12. Nehemiah 13:11, 25
13. Ezra 9:13; Jeremiah 17:21
14. Leviticus 23:32

Footnotes 9

[a]. Or "knew"
[b]. Lit "fled"
[c]. Or "contended with"
[d]. Lit "on them to"
[e]. Lit "brothers"
[f]. Lit "in it"
[g]. Or "contended with"
[h]. Lit "and"
[i]. Lit "and commanded"