Foreigners Are Sent Away
1 On that day when the Law of Moses was read aloud to everyone, it was discovered that Ammonites and Moabites were forbidden to belong to the people of God. 2 This was because they had refused to give food and water to Israel and had hired Balaam to call down a curse on them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 Following the reading of the Law of Moses, the people of Israel started sending away anyone who had any foreign ancestors.
Nehemiah Makes Other Changes
4 The priest Eliashib was a relative of Tobiah and had earlier been put in charge of the temple storerooms. 5 So he let Tobiah live in one of these rooms, where all kinds of things had been stored—the grain offerings, incense, utensils for the temple, as well as the tenth of the grain, wine, and olive oil that had been given for the use of the Levites, singers, and temple guards, and the gifts for the priests.
6 This happened in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes ruled Babylonia. I was away from Jerusalem at the time, because I was visiting him. Later I received permission from the king 7 to return to Jerusalem. Only then did I find out that Eliashib had done this terrible thing of letting Tobiah have a room in the temple. 8 It upset me so much that I threw out every bit of Tobiah's furniture. 9 Then I ordered the room to be cleaned and the temple utensils, the grain offerings, and the incense to be brought back into the room.
10 I also found out that the temple singers and several other Levites had returned to work on their farms, because they had not been given their share of the harvest. 11 I called the leaders together and angrily asked them, “Why is the temple neglected?” Then I told them to start doing their jobs. 12 After this, everyone in Judah brought a tenth of their grain, wine, and olive oil to the temple storeroom. 13 Finally, I appointed three men with good reputations to be in charge of what was brought there and to distribute it to the others. They were Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher of the Law, and Pedaiah the Levite. Their assistant was Hanan, the son of Zaccur and the grandson of Mattaniah.
14 I pray that my God will remember these good things that I have done for his temple and for those who worship there.
The Sabbath
15 I also noticed what the people of Judah were doing on the Sabbath. Not only were they trampling grapes to make wine, but they were harvesting their grain, grapes, figs, and other crops, and then loading these on donkeys to sell in Jerusalem. So I warned them not to sell food on the Sabbath. 16 People who had moved to Jerusalem from the city of Tyre were bringing in fish and other things to sell there on the Sabbath. 17 I got angry and said to the leaders of Judah, “This evil you are doing is an insult to the Sabbath! 18 Didn't God punish us and this city because our ancestors did these very same things? And here you are, about to make God furious again by disgracing the Sabbath!”
19 I ordered the gates of Jerusalem to be closed on the eve of the Sabbath and not to be opened until after the Sabbath had ended. Then I put some of my own men in charge of the gates to make certain that nothing was brought in on the Sabbath. 20 Once or twice some merchants spent the night outside Jerusalem with their goods. 21 But I warned them, “If you do this again, I'll have you arrested.” From then on, they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 I ordered the Levites to make themselves holy and to guard the gates on the Sabbath, so that it would be kept holy.
God is truly merciful, and I pray that he will treat me with kindness and bless me for doing this.
Mixed Marriages
23 I discovered that some Jewish men had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 About half of their children could not speak Hebrew—they spoke only the language of Ashdod or some other foreign language. 25 So in my anger, I called down curses on those men. I had them beaten and even pulled out the hair of some of them. Then I made them promise:
In the name of God we solemnly promise not to let our sons and daughters marry foreigners. 26 God dearly loved King Solomon of Israel and made him the greatest king on earth, but Solomon's foreign wives led him into sin. 27 So we will obey you and not rebel against our God by marrying foreign women.
28 Jehoiada, the son of the high priest Eliashib, had a son who had married a daughter of Sanballat from Horon, and I forced his son to leave.
29 I pray that God will punish them for breaking their priestly vows and disgracing the Levi tribe.
30 Then I made sure that the people were free from every foreign influence, and I assigned duties for the priests and Levites. 31 I also arranged for the people to bring firewood to the altar each day and for them to bring the first part of their harvest to the temple.
I pray that God will bless me for the good I have done.
Nehemia ta yapula otembeli eshi e uya olutivali kuJerusalem
1 Efiku tuu olo va leshela momatwi ovanhu momhango yaMoses. Ndele omo mwa shangwa nokutya, nande Omuammoni ile Omumoabi umwe ita itavelelwa okuuya fiyo alushe meongalo laKalunga. 2 Osheshi inave uya okushakeneka ovana vaIsrael noku va etela omingome nomeva, ndele va futa Bileam e va tule omutima. Ndelenee Kalunga ketu okwa lundulula etulomutima la ninga enangeko noupuna. 3 Ndele vo eshi va uda omhango, ova tukula mo mOvaisraeli ovanhu aveshe ve neehonde da lumbakana.
4 Ndelenee nale omupristeli Eljasib, ou a tulwa po a pashukile eendjuwo domongulu yaKalunga nokwa li haukwe waTobia, 5 okwa longekidila Tobia ondjuwo inene, omo va tuvikila nale eendjayambo, oitwiminifo noilongifo noitimulongo yoilya noyomaviinyu noyomaadi, oitukulwa yopamhango yOvalevi noyovaimbi noyovanangeli vopoivelo neeshaliyambo dovapristeli. 6 Ndelenee oinima oyo aishe fimbo tai ningwa, kanda li muJerusalem. Osheshi omudo omutimilongo nhatu nomutivali waArtasasta, ohamba yaBabilon, ame nde uya kohamba. Ndele eshi pa pita omafiku ame nda pula kohamba ndi itavelwe 7 ndele nde uya kuJerusalem. Opo nee nda dimbulukwa owii ou Eljasib a ninga eshi a longekidila Tobia ondjuwo moihale yongulu yaKalunga. 8 Ame nda ninga omwenyo mwii unene, onghee hano nda ekelashi pondje oinima yaTobia, 9 ndele nda lombwela ve nokuyapula eendjuwo; ndele nda shunifa mo oinima yomongulu yaKalunga eendjayambo noitwiminifo.
10 Ndele nda dimbulukwa vali, nokutya inava yandja kOvalevi oitukulwa yavo, onghee hano Ovalevi novaimbi ava ve nokudiinina oshilonga, keshe umwe okwa faduka po a ya kepya laye. 11 Ndele nda twifa ovawiliki eemhata ndele handi ti: “Omolwashike ongulu yaKalunga inai diininwa?” Ndele nde va ongela nonde va tula vali moilonga yavo. 12 NOvajuda aveshe va eta oitimulongo yoilya noyomaviinyu noyomaadi komalimba. 13 Ndele nda tula omupristeli Selemja nomushangi Sadok naPedaja vomOvalevi va ninge ovapashukili vomamona. Ndele ngaashi ovayakuli vavo: Hanan yaSakkur yaMattanja, shaashi vo va li ve shii kulineekelwa. Ndele vo ve nokutukulila ovamwaina ovalumenhu. 14 Omolwaashi, dimbulukwe nge, Kalunga kange, ndele ino dima po oilonga yange iwa, oyo nde i ningila ongulu yaKalunga kange noilonga yayo.
15 Pomafiku enya nda mona muJuda ovanhu tava kolo moshikolelo ndele tava eta mo mefiku lEshabata omakutu oilya a londekwa keendongi, nosho yo omaviinyu, eeviinyu neenghwiyu neefulaxa di lili nadi lili tava eta mefiku lEshabata muJerusalem. Ame onde va londwela, vo eshi va landifa oinima yeendja mefiku olo. 16 NOvatirus yo ava va kala mo, va eta mo eeshi noipindi i lili nai lili ndele ve i landifa kOvajuda muJerusalem shoovene mEshabata. 17 Ndele nda twifa ovanamadina vomuJuda eemhata ndele handi ti kuvo: “Owii ou fike peni tamu u ningi, eshi tamu shekifa efiku lEshabata? 18 Ooxo yeni osho va ningile, onghee hano Kalunga ketu e tu etela noshilando eshi omupya aushe ou. Heeno, nye otamu hapupalifa oupyuhandu kombada yaIsrael, eshi tamu shekifa efiku lEshabata.” 19 Ndele naanaa etango eshi la toka moivelo yaJerusalem Eshabata fimbo inali hovela, ame nda tya oivelo i nokwiidilwa. Ndele nde va lombwela vehe i yeulule fimbo Eshabata inali pita. Ndele nda tula ovapiya vange poivelo; ofulaxa nande imwe inai etwa mo mefiku lEshabata. 20 Opo nee ovalandifi novashingifi voipindi i lili nai lili va nangala pondje yaJerusalem luvali. 21 Ndelenee ame nde va londwela ndele handi ti kuvo: “Omolwashike tamu nangala pondje yohotekuma? Ngeenge tamu shi ningi vali efiku limwe, handi mu kwata.” Okefimbo linya inave uya vali efiku lEshabata. 22 Ame nda lombwela vali Ovalevi, nokutya ve nokuliyelifa nokuuya va nangele oivelo opo efiku lEshabata li yapulwe. Dimbulukwe nge molwoshinima eshi yo, Kalunga kange, u file nge onghenda omolwouwanghenda woye uhapu.
23 Pomafiku enya nda mona Ovajuda va hombola ovakainhu Ovaasdod nOvaammoni nOvamoab. 24 Ndele movana vavo etata la popya Oshiasdod ile elaka limwe loiwana. Ndelenee inava shiiva okupopya Oshiheberi. 25 Onghee hano nde va twifa eemhata ndele nde va tula omutima ndele vamwe vomuvo nde va denga, ndele nde va shila keexwiki ndele nde va anifa puKalunga: “Inamu yandja ovana veni oukadona kovana vavo ovamati, ndele inamu kufa movana vavo oukadona va hombolwe kovana veni ovamati ile kunye vene. 26 Ndishi Salomo, ohamba yaIsrael, inai nyonifwa kuvo mbela? Nande moiwana inamu kala nande ohamba i fike puye, ye okwa li omuholike waKalunga, ndele Kalunga e mu ninga ohamba yOvaisraeli aveshe, ovalikadi ovanailongo ve mu nyonifa. 27 Ndele paife tu nokuuda molweni, nokutya mwa ninga owii aushe ou munene, eshi mwe liteeka Kalunga mokuhombola ovakainhu ovanailongo.”
28 Nomona umwe omumati womovana vaJehoiada omona womupristeli omukulunhu Eljasib, okwa li oshitenya shaSanballat, Omuhoroni. Onghee hano ame nde mu taataa pwaame. 29 Kalunga kange, va dimbulukwa, osheshi vo ova nyateka oupristeli nehangano lovapristeli nolOvalevi.
30 Osho ngaha hano nde va yapula mwaashishe shokoilongo. Ndele nda pangelela ovapristeli nOvalevi oilonga yavo, keshe umwe moshilonga shaye, 31 nosho yo omafiku oo ve na okutyava oikuni nooshipe yo. Kalunga kange, dimbulukwe nge ndi mone ouwa!
