8. I was very upset at this. I threw all of Tobiah’s goods out of the room.
9. I ordered the rooms to be purified. And I brought back the things for God’s Temple, the grain offerings and the incense.
10. Then I found out the people were not giving the Levites their shares. So the Levites and singers who served had gone to their own farms.
11. So I argued with the officers. I said, “Why haven’t you taken care of the Temple?” Then I gathered the Levites and singers. I put them back at their places.
12. Then all the people of Judah brought a tenth of what they had gained in grain, new wine and olive oil. And they brought it to the storerooms.
13. I put these men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher and Pedaiah a Levite. I made Hanan son of Zaccur their helper. (Zaccur was the son of Mattaniah.) Everyone knew they were honest men. They gave out the portions that went to their relatives.
14. Remember me, my God, for this. Do not ignore my love for the Temple and its service.
15. In those days I saw people in Judah working in the winepresses on the Sabbath day. People were bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys on the Sabbath day. People were bringing loads of wine, grapes and figs into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. I warned them about selling food on that day.
16. Men from the city of Tyre were living in Jerusalem. They brought in fish and other things. They sold them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath day to the people of Judah.
17. I argued with the important men of Judah. I said to them, “What is this evil thing you are doing? You are ruining the Sabbath day.
18. This is just what your ancestors did. So our God did terrible things to us and this city. Now you are making him even more angry at Israel. You are ruining the Sabbath day.”
19. So I ordered the doors shut at sunset before the Sabbath. The gates were not to be opened until the Sabbath was over. I put my servants at the gates. So no load could come in on the Sabbath.
20. Once or twice traders and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem.
21. So I warned them. I said, “Why are you spending the night by the wall? If you do it again, I will force you away.” After that, they did not come back on the Sabbath.
22. Then I ordered the Levites to purify themselves. I told them to go and guard the city gates. They were to make sure the Sabbath remained holy.Remember me, my God, for this. Have mercy on me because of your great love.
23. In those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab.