Other reforms instituted by Nehemiah

15 During that time, I saw some people in Judea who were working on the Sabbath day. Some were pressing grapes to make wine. Others were putting grain, bags of wine, baskets of grapes, figs, and many [HYP] other things, on their donkeys and taking them into Jerusalem. I warned them that they should not sell things to the people of Judea on Sabbath days. 16 I also saw some people from Tyre city who were living there in Jerusalem who were bringing fish and other things into Jerusalem to sell to the people of Judea on the Sabbath day. 17 So I rebuked the Jewish leaders and told them, “This is [RHQ] a very evil thing that you are doing! You are causing the Sabbath days to be unholy. 18 Your ancestors did [RHQ] things like that, so God punished them, and as a result, this city was destroyed! And now by causing the Sabbath day to be unholy, you are going to cause God to be angry with us Israeli people and punish us more!”

19 So I ordered that at ◄the beginning of every Sabbath day/every Friday evening► they should shut the gates of the city before it became dark. I also ordered that they should not open the gates until ◄the Sabbath day was ended the next day/Saturday evening►. Then each Sabbath day I put some of my men at the gates, so they would make sure that nothing to sell was brought into the city on that day. 20 One or two times merchants [DOU] stayed outside of the city on ◄Friday night/the night before the Sabbath day►. 21 I warned them, “It is useless [RHQ] for you to stay here outside the walls on Friday night! If you do this again, I will tell my men to arrest you!” So after that, they did not come on Sabbath days. 22 I also commanded the descendants of Levi to perform the ritual to purify themselves and to guard the city gates, to make sure that the Sabbath was kept holy by not allowing merchants to enter it on Sabbath days.

My God, do not forget this also that I have done for you! And because of your faithfully loving me, allow me to continue to live many more years!

23 During that time, I also found out that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod city, and from the Ammon and Moab people-groups. 24 The result was that half of their children spoke the language that people in Ashdod speak or some other language, and they didn’t know how to speak our language. 25 So I rebuked those men, and I asked God to curse them, and I beat them and pulled out some of their hair. Then I forced them to solemnly promise, knowing that God [MTY] was listening, that they would never again marry foreigners, and never allow their children to marry foreigners. 26 I said to them, “Solomon, the king of Israel, sinned [RHQ] as a result of marrying foreign women. He was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him, and caused him to become the king of all the Israeli people, but his foreign wives caused even him to sin. 27 Do you think that we should do what you have done, and disobey our God by marrying foreign women who worship idols? [RHQ]”

28 One of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the Supreme Priest, had married the daughter of our enemy Sanballat, from Beth-Horon town. So I forced Jehoiada’s son to leave Jerusalem.

29 My God, do not forget that those people who have married foreign women have caused it to be a shame/disgrace to be a priest, and have caused people to despise the agreement that you made with the priests and with the other descendants of Levi who help the priests►!

30 I did all that to make sure that there were no more foreign people among the Israeli people who would encourage them to worship idols. I also established regulations for the priests and other descendants of Levi, in order that they would know what work they should do. 31 I also arranged for people to bring the firewood that was needed to burn on the altar, as Moses had declared that we should do. I also arranged for the people to bring the first part of what they harvested each year.

My God, do not forget that I have done all these things, and bless me for doing them!