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Nehemiah 13

Nehemiah confronts breaches of Israel’s covenant obligations and places his work before God through repeated prayers for remembrance and mercy.

A public reading of Moses’ law leads Israel to separate the mixed multitude from the assembly. Nehemiah also recounts returning to Jerusalem after an absence and finding Tobiah housed in a temple storeroom, while unpaid Levites have left their work. He confronts the rulers and restores temple support. He then shuts the gates against Sabbath trade and confronts marriages with women from neighboring peoples, using force against some men. His account is punctuated by appeals for God to remember.

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1On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and it was found written in it that an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever,
2because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them; however, our God turned the curse into a blessing.
3It came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.
4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the rooms of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah,
5had prepared for him a great room, where previously they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers; and the wave offerings for the priests.
6But in all this, I was not at Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king; and after some days I asked leave of the king,
7and I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a room in the courts of God’s house.
8It grieved me severely. Therefore I threw all Tobiah’s household stuff out of the room.
9Then I commanded, and they cleansed the rooms. I brought into them the vessels of God’s house, with the meal offerings and the frankincense again.
10I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had each fled to his field.
11Then I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is God’s house forsaken?” I gathered them together, and set them in their place.
12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries.
13I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were counted faithful, and their business was to distribute to their brothers.
14Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don’t wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its observances.
15In those days I saw some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath in Judah, bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I testified against them in the day in which they sold food.
17Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?
18Didn’t your fathers do this, and didn’t our God bring all this evil on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19It came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some of my servants over the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day.
21Then I testified against them, and said to them, “Why do you stay around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they didn’t come on the Sabbath.
22I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me for this also, my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving kindness.
23In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;
24and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.
25I contended with them, cursed them, struck certain of them, plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves.
26Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin.
28One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me.
29Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
30Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners and appointed duties for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work;
31and for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Nehemiah 13:22After enforcing Sabbath observance, Nehemiah asks God to spare him on the grounds of God’s great loving kindness.
Nehemiah 13:23These marriages introduce the final confrontation, where Nehemiah invokes Solomon’s failure to explain the danger of covenant unfaithfulness.
Nehemiah 13:31The book closes with provisions for worship and a personal plea that God remember Nehemiah for good.
Where this chapter reaches

Deuteronomy supplies the assembly restriction concerning Ammonites and Moabites, while Numbers recounts the Balaam episode behind it. Ezra shares the concern over marriages with neighboring peoples, and Malachi addresses failures involving tithes and the priestly covenant, both central concerns in Nehemiah’s reforms.

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After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about the unpaid Levites leaving temple service to work their fields?

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How do Nehemiah’s prayers for remembrance and mercy shape your reading of his forceful reforms?

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Questions people ask about Nehemiah 13

Why did Nehemiah oppose marriages with foreign women?

Nehemiah treats these marriages as a breach of Israel’s obligations to God. He points to children losing the Jews’ language and to Solomon being led into sin by foreign women. The passage concerns Israel’s covenant identity and faithfulness; it does not establish a general ban on marriage between ethnic groups.

Why did Nehemiah pull out people’s hair?

Verse 25 reports that Nehemiah struck some men and pulled out their hair during his confrontation over foreign marriages. He then made them swear to stop such marriages. The account records his coercive enforcement of covenant obligations, without making his conduct a command for readers or church leaders to imitate.

What does Nehemiah mean by asking God to remember him?

Nehemiah asks God to take account of his work for the temple and its worship. His prayers include a request that his good deeds not be wiped out, alongside a plea to be spared according to God’s loving kindness. These appeals place his service under God’s judgment and mercy.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).