1. On that day, the scroll of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people. The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should enter into the assembly of God forever.
2. For they did not meet Bnei-Yisrael with bread and water, but instead hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3. When they heard the Torah, they separated from Israel all of mixed ancestry.
4. Prior to this Eliashib the kohen was given authority over the storerooms in the House of our God.
5. He was closely associated with Tobiah and provided him with a large chamber previously used to store the offerings, frankincense, and the Temple vessels, and also the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers and gatekeepers, along with the offerings for the kohanim.
6. I was not in Jerusalem during all this, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, I went to the king. After a period of time, I requested to take leave from the king
7. and returned to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done by preparing a chamber for Tobiah in the courts of the House of God.
8. It greatly displeased me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household goods outside of the storeroom
9. and commanded the storerooms to be cleansed. Then I restored the utensils of the House of God, the offerings and the frankincense.
10. I also learned that the portions for the Levites had not been provided, and that each of the Levites and singers who performed the work had gone back to his own field.
11. So I rebuked the leaders and asked, “Why has the House of God been forsaken?” I assembled them and stationed them at their posts.
12. Then all Judah brought the tithe of grain, new wine and oil to the storehouses.
13. I put Shelemiah the kohen, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah from the Levites in charge over the storehouses, and made Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah their assistant, because these men were considered faithful. They were responsible for distributing to their brothers.