Purifying the storerooms

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. 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.

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. 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. 8 I became very angry, and I threw out of that room everything that belonged to Tobiah. 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.

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. 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.

12 Then all the people of Judah again started to bring to the temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil. 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.

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!