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Nehemiah 13

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1 ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἀνεγνώσθη ἐν βιβλίῳ Μωυσῆ ἐν ὠσὶν τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ εὑρέθη γεγραμμένον ἐν αὐτῷ ὅπως μὴ εἰσέλθωσιν Αμμανῖται καὶ Μωαβῖται ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ θεοῦ ἕως αἰῶνος 2 ὅτι οὐ συνήντησαν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ ἐν ἄρτῳ καὶ ἐν ὕδατι καὶ ἐμισθώσαντο ἐ{P'} αὐτὸν τὸν Βαλααμ καταράσασθαι καὶ ἔστρεψεν ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν τὴν κατάραν εἰς εὐλογίαν 3 καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἤκουσαν τὸν νόμον καὶ ἐχωρίσθησαν πᾶς ἐπίμικτος ἐν Ισραηλ

1 And now a new discovery came to light, while the law of Moses was being read out to the people. It was found set down there, that no Ammonite or Moabite might be admitted to the Lord’s assembly. And this was a disability they had incurred for all time, 2 by refusing to provide food and drink, when Israel came by; it was they, too, that hired Balaam to curse Israel, only our God transformed that curse into a blessing. 3 No sooner was this injunction made known, than the Israelites began to rid themselves of all contact with alien folk.

1 In die autem illo, lectum est in volumine Moysi, audiente populo: et inventum est scriptum in eo, quod non debeant introire Ammonites et Moabites in ecclesiam Dei usque in æternum: 2 eo quod non occurrerint filiis Israël cum pane et aqua, et conduxerint adversum eos Balaam ad maledicendum eis: et convertit Deus noster maledictionem in benedictionem. 3 Factum est autem, cum audissent legem, separaverunt omnem alienigenam ab Israël.

4 καὶ πρὸ τούτου Ελιασιβ ὁ ἱερεὺς οἰκῶν ἐν γαζοφυλακίῳ οἴκου θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐγγίων Τωβια 5 καὶ ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ γαζοφυλάκιον μέγα καὶ ἐκεῖ ἦσαν πρότερον διδόντες τὴν μανααν καὶ τὸν λίβανον καὶ τὰ σκεύη καὶ τὴν δεκάτην τοῦ σίτου καὶ τοῦ οἴνου καὶ τοῦ ἐλαίου ἐντολὴν τῶν Λευιτῶν καὶ τῶν ᾀδόντων καὶ τῶν πυλωρῶν καὶ ἀπαρχὰς τῶν ἱερέων 6 καὶ ἐν παντὶ τούτῳ οὐκ ἤμην ἐν Ιερουσαλημ ὅτι ἐν ἔτει τριακοστῷ καὶ δευτέρῳ τοῦ Αρθασασθα βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος ἦλθον πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καὶ μετὰ τέλος ἡμερῶν ᾐτησάμην παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως 7 καὶ ἦλθον εἰς Ιερουσαλημ καὶ συνῆκα ἐν τῇ πονηρίᾳ ᾗ ἐποίησεν Ελισουβ τῷ Τωβια ποιῆσαι αὐτῷ γαζοφυλάκιον ἐν αὐλῇ οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ 8 καὶ πονηρόν μοι ἐφάνη σφόδρα καὶ ἔρριψα πάντα τὰ σκεύη οἴκου Τωβια ἔξω ἀπὸ τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου 9 καὶ εἶπα καὶ ἐκαθάρισαν τὰ γαζοφυλάκια καὶ ἐπέστρεψα ἐκεῖ σκεύη οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν μαναα καὶ τὸν λίβανον

4 Till now, it had been otherwise; here was the high priest Eliasib, that had the treasury of our God’s temple in his keeping, a close friend of Tobias;[1] 5 and so Tobias had one of the great store-rooms put at his disposal. (It was the room where at one time they used to store up the bloodless offerings, and the incense, and certain ornaments, and the tithe or corn, wine and oil, given to Levite, singer and door-keeper, and the first-fruits that belonged to the priests.) 6 All this had happened while I was away from Jerusalem. During the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes’ reign I went to court, and it was only at the end of the year that I had leave to return. 7 When I was back at Jerusalem, and learned what harm had come of Eliasib’s love for Tobias, that he would give him a store-house in the very temple of God, 8 I cried shame on him; out went all Tobias’ furniture from the treasury, 9 and I gave orders besides that the treasure-rooms should be cleansed, and put back the furniture of God’s house there, the offerings, too, and the incense.

4 Et super hoc erat Eliasib sacerdos, qui fuerat præpositus in gazophylacio domus Dei nostri, et proximus Tobiæ. 5 Fecit ergo sibi gazophylacium grande, et ibi erant ante eum reponentes munera, et thus, et vasa, et decimam frumenti, vini, et olei, partes Levitarum, et cantorum, et janitorum, et primitias sacerdotales. 6 In omnibus autem his non fui in Jerusalem, quia anno trigesimo secundo Artaxerxis regis Babylonis veni ad regem, et in fine dierum rogavi regem. 7 Et veni in Jerusalem, et intellexi malum quod fecerat Eliasib Tobiæ, ut faceret ei thesaurum in vestibulis domus Dei. 8 Et malum mihi visum est valde. Et projeci vasa domus Tobiæ foras de gazophylacio: 9 præcepique et emundaverunt gazophylacia: et retuli ibi vasa domus Dei, sacrificium, et thus.

10 καὶ ἔγνων ὅτι μερίδες τῶν Λευιτῶν οὐκ ἐδόθησαν καὶ ἐφύγοσαν ἀνὴρ εἰς ἀγρὸν αὐτοῦ οἱ Λευῖται καὶ οἱ ᾄδοντες ποιοῦντες τὸ ἔργον 11 καὶ ἐμαχεσάμην τοῖς στρατηγοῖς καὶ εἶπα διὰ τί ἐγκατελείφθη ὁ οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ συνήγαγον αὐτοὺς καὶ ἔστησα αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τῇ στάσει αὐτῶν 12 καὶ πᾶς Ιουδα ἤνεγκαν δεκάτην τοῦ πυροῦ καὶ τοῦ οἴνου καὶ τοῦ ἐλαίου εἰς τοὺς θησαυροὺς 13 ἐπὶ χεῖρα Σελεμια τοῦ ἱερέως καὶ Σαδδουκ τοῦ γραμματέως καὶ Φαδαια ἀπὸ τῶν Λευιτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ χεῖρα αὐτῶν Αναν υἱὸς Ζακχουρ υἱὸς Μαθανια ὅτι πιστοὶ ἐλογίσθησαν ἐ{P'} αὐτοὺς μερίζειν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτῶν 14 μνήσθητί μου ὁ θεός ἐν ταύτῃ καὶ μὴ ἐξαλειφθήτω ἔλεός μου ὃ ἐποίησα ἐν οἴκῳ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ

10 And now I learned that the Levites were not having their portions granted them; Levite and singer and all the ministrants had gone back to their homes in the country-side. 11 So I attacked the rulers, asking them whether the house of God was to be left deserted; and I brought the Levites back, and reinstalled them; 12 from all over Juda, tithe of corn and wine and oil flowed into their store-houses once more; 13 and we gave the charge of these store-houses to men whose honour we could trust, the priest Selemias, the scribe Sadoc, the Levite Phadaia, and Hanan, son of Zachur, son of Mathanias. 14 My God, let not this go unremembered; do not blot out the record of the service I have done to thy temple, my God, and to thy ceremonies.

10 Et cognovi quod partes Levitarum non fuissent datæ, et fugisset unusquisque in regionem suam de Levitis, et cantoribus, et de his qui ministrabant: 11 et egi causam adversus magistratus, et dixi: Quare dereliquimus domum Dei? et congregavi eos, et feci stare in stationibus suis. 12 Et omnis Juda apportabat decimam frumenti, vini, et olei, in horrea. 13 Et constituimus super horrea Selemiam sacerdotem, et Sadoc scribam, et Phadaiam de Levitis, et juxta eos Hanan filium Zachur, filium Mathaniæ: quoniam fideles comprobati sunt, et ipsis creditæ sunt partes fratrum suorum. 14 Memento mei, Deus meus, pro hoc, et ne deleas miserationes meas quas feci in domo Dei mei, et in cæremoniis ejus.

15 ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις εἶδον ἐν Ιουδα πατοῦντας ληνοὺς ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ καὶ φέροντας δράγματα καὶ ἐπιγεμίζοντας ἐπὶ τοὺς ὄνους καὶ οἶνον καὶ σταφυλὴν καὶ σῦκα καὶ πᾶν βάσταγμα καὶ φέροντας εἰς Ιερουσαλημ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου καὶ ἐπεμαρτυράμην ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πράσεως αὐτῶν 16 καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐν αὐτῇ φέροντες ἰχθὺν καὶ πᾶσαν πρᾶσιν πωλοῦντες ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ τοῖς υἱοῖς Ιουδα καὶ ἐν Ιερουσαλημ 17 καὶ ἐμαχεσάμην τοῖς υἱοῖς Ιουδα τοῖς ἐλευθέροις καὶ εἶπα αὐτοῖς τίς ὁ λόγος οὗτος ὁ πονηρός ὃν ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε καὶ βεβηλοῦτε τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ σαββάτου 18 οὐχὶ οὕτως ἐποίησαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ ἤνεγκεν ἐ{P'} αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἐ{F'} ἡμᾶς πάντα τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ταύτην καὶ ὑμεῖς προστίθετε ὀργὴν ἐπὶ Ισραηλ βεβηλῶσαι τὸ σάββατον 19 καὶ ἐγένετο ἡνίκα κατέστησαν πύλαι Ιερουσαλημ πρὸ τοῦ σαββάτου καὶ εἶπα καὶ ἔκλεισαν τὰς πύλας καὶ εἶπα ὥστε μὴ ἀνοιγῆναι αὐτὰς ἕως ὀπίσω τοῦ σαββάτου καὶ ἐκ τῶν παιδαρίων μου ἔστησα ἐπὶ τὰς πύλας ὥστε μὴ αἴρειν βαστάγματα ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου 20 καὶ ηὐλίσθησαν πάντες καὶ ἐποίησαν πρᾶσιν ἔξω Ιερουσαλημ ἅπαξ καὶ δίς 21 καὶ διεμαρτυράμην ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ εἶπα πρὸς αὐτούς διὰ τί ὑμεῖς αὐλίζεσθε ἀπέναντι τοῦ τείχους ἐὰν δευτερώσητε ἐκτενῶ τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐν ὑμῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ καιροῦ ἐκείνου οὐκ ἤλθοσαν ἐν σαββάτῳ 22 καὶ εἶπα τοῖς Λευίταις οἳ ἦσαν καθαριζόμενοι καὶ ἐρχόμενοι φυλάσσοντες τὰς πύλας ἁγιάζειν τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ σαββάτου πρὸς ταῦτα μνήσθητί μου ὁ θεός καὶ φεῖσαί μου κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ ἐλέους σου

15 Even now I found Jewish folk treading out their wine-presses and carrying burdens on the sabbath day. On the sabbath day they would load their asses with wine-skins, or grapes, or figs, or some other freight, and bring them to Jerusalem for sale. These I warned that they must find some other day for selling their wares; 16 but there were still traders from Tyre in the city itself, importing fish and all manner of goods, who sold them to their Jewish neighbours on the sabbath, there in Jerusalem. 17 So I took my complaint to the Jewish rulers; Here are fine doings of yours, I said, that profane the sabbath day! 18 All these late afflictions that God brought on us and on our city were a punishment for such disobedience as this; would you crown Israel’s guilt by breaking the sabbath? 19 When the sabbath came, and the traffic of the market-place had died away, and the gates were shut, I gave orders that they should not be opened till the sabbath was over; I set a guard there, too, of my own men, to make sure that no load came in that day. 20 That week and the next, the merchants waited beyond Jerusalem walls and did all their trading there; 21 but that would not serve; I warned them not to loiter about the walls, and threatened to use force if they did the like again; so there was no more trafficking on the sabbath. 22 Meanwhile, I bade the Levites rid themselves of defilement and keep watch over the gates, for the better hallowing of the sabbath day. For this too, O my God, let me not go unremembered; as thou art rich in mercy, grant me pardon still.

15 In diebus illis vidi in Juda calcantes torcularia in sabbato, portantes acervos, et onerantes super asinos vinum, et uvas, et ficus, et omne onus, et inferentes in Jerusalem, die sabbati. Et contestatus sum ut in die qua vendere liceret, venderent. 16 Et Tyrii habitaverunt in ea, inferentes pisces, et omnia venalia: et vendebant in sabbatis filiis Juda in Jerusalem. 17 Et objurgavi optimates Juda, et dixi eis: Quæ est hæc res mala quam vos facitis, et profanatis diem sabbati? 18 numquid non hæc fecerunt patres nostri, et adduxit Deus noster super nos omne malum hoc, et super civitatem hanc? et vos additis iracundiam super Israël violando sabbatum. 19 Factum est autem, cum quievissent portæ Jerusalem in die sabbati, dixi: et clauserunt januas, et præcepi ut non aperirent eas usque post sabbatum: et de pueris meis constitui super portas, ut nullus inferret onus in die sabbati. 20 Et manserunt negotiatores, et vendentes universa venalia, foris Jerusalem semel et bis. 21 Et contestatus sum eos, et dixi eis: Quare manetis ex adverso muri? si secundo hoc feceritis, manum mittam in vos. Itaque ex tempore illo non venerunt in sabbato. 22 Dixi quoque Levitis ut mundarentur, et venirent ad custodiendas portas, et sanctificandam diem sabbati: et pro hoc ergo memento mei, Deus meus, et parce mihi secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum.

23 καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις εἶδον τοὺς Ιουδαίους οἳ ἐκάθισαν γυναῖκας Ἀζωτίας Αμμανίτιδας Μωαβίτιδας 24 καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν ἥμισυ λαλοῦντες Ἀζωτιστὶ καὶ οὔκ εἰσιν ἐπιγινώσκοντες λαλεῖν Ιουδαϊστί 25 καὶ ἐμαχεσάμην με{T'} αὐτῶν καὶ κατηρασάμην αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπάταξα ἐν αὐτοῖς ἄνδρας καὶ ἐμαδάρωσα αὐτοὺς καὶ ὥρκισα αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ θεῷ ἐὰν δῶτε τὰς θυγατέρας ὑμῶν τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐὰν λάβητε ἀπὸ τῶν θυγατέρων αὐτῶν τοῖς υἱοῖς ὑμῶν 26 οὐχ οὕτως ἥμαρτεν Σαλωμων βασιλεὺς Ισραηλ καὶ ἐν ἔθνεσιν πολλοῖς οὐκ ἦν βασιλεὺς ὅμοιος αὐτῷ καὶ ἀγαπώμενος τῷ θεῷ ἦν καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς εἰς βασιλέα ἐπὶ πάντα Ισραηλ καὶ τοῦτον ἐξέκλιναν αἱ γυναῖκες αἱ ἀλλότριαι 27 καὶ ὑμῶν μὴ ἀκουσόμεθα ποιῆσαι τὴν πᾶσαν πονηρίαν ταύτην ἀσυνθετῆσαι ἐν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν καθίσαι γυναῖκας ἀλλοτρίας 28 καὶ ἀπὸ υἱῶν Ιωαδα τοῦ Ελισουβ τοῦ ἱερέως τοῦ μεγάλου νυμφίου τοῦ Σαναβαλλατ τοῦ Ωρωνίτου καὶ ἐξέβρασα αὐτὸν ἀ{P'} ἐμοῦ 29 μνήσθητι αὐτοῖς ὁ θεός ἐπὶ ἀγχιστείᾳ τῆς ἱερατείας καὶ διαθήκης τῆς ἱερατείας καὶ τοὺς Λευίτας

23 Even now I found men of Juda that had married wives from Azotus, or Ammon, or Moab, 24 with children that spoke half in the Philistine dialect, not like true Jews; they would use the speech first of one race and then of another.[2] 25 I remonstrated with such men, and called down a curse on them; with some I came to blows, and plucked the hair from their heads. Then I made them take an oath in God’s name; there should be no more alien sons-in-law, or daughters-in-law, or wives. Why, I said, 26 was not this king Solomon’s undoing? Here was a man that had not his like on earth, the favourite of his God, that gave him all Israel for his kingdom; yet such a man alien women could bend to sinful ways. 27 Here is heinous rebellion, and great despite done to our God, if we take wives of another race, as Solomon did. 28 Eliasib himself, the high priest, had a grandson, one of the sons of Joiada, that had married a daughter of Sanaballat the Horonite; of his company I soon rid myself. 29 Not unremembered, O Lord my God, be their profanation of the priesthood, unworthy sons of Aaron and of Levi both.

23 Sed et in diebus illis vidi Judæos ducentes uxores Azotidas, Ammonitidas, et Moabitidas. 24 Et filii eorum ex media parte loquebantur azotice, et nesciebant loqui judaice, et loquebantur juxta linguam populi et populi. 25 Et objurgavi eos, et maledixi. Et cecidi ex eis viros, et decalvavi eos, et adjuravi in Deo ut non darent filias suas filiis eorum, et non acciperent de filiabus eorum filiis suis et sibimetipsis, dicens: 26 Numquid non in hujuscemodi re peccavit Salomon rex Israël? et certe in gentibus multis non erat rex similis ei, et dilectus Deo suo erat, et posuit eum Deus regem super omnem Israël: et ipsum ergo duxerunt ad peccatum mulieres alienigenæ. 27 Numquid et nos inobedientes faciemus omne malum grande hoc ut prævaricemur in Deo nostro, et ducamus uxores peregrinas? 28 De filiis autem Jojada filii Eliasib sacerdotis magni, gener erat Sanaballat Horonites, quem fugavi a me. 29 Recordare, Domine Deus meus, adversum eos qui polluunt sacerdotium, jusque sacerdotale et Leviticum.

30 καὶ ἐκαθάρισα αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀλλοτριώσεως καὶ ἔστησα ἐφημερίας τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν καὶ τοῖς Λευίταις ἀνὴρ ὡς τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ 31 καὶ τὸ δῶρον τῶν ξυλοφόρων ἐν καιροῖς ἀπὸ χρόνων καὶ ἐν τοῖς βακχουρίοις μνήσθητί μου ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν εἰς ἀγαθωσύνην

30 Thus it was mine to rid Israel of the alien-born, to marshal priests and Levites for their due service, 31 to plan the offering of wood at appointed times, and of the first-fruits. Not unremembered, my God, be all this, not unrewarded.

30 Igitur mundavi eos ab omnibus alienigenis, et constitui ordines sacerdotum et Levitarum, unumquemque in ministerio suo: 31 et in oblatione lignorum in temporibus constitutis, et in primitivis: memento mei, Deus meus, in bonum. Amen.

[1] The Latin here might be interpreted as meaning that Eliasib, at the time of this incident, was himself responsible for seeing that the aliens were expelled; but there is nothing in the Hebrew text or in the Septuagint Greek which suggests this.

[2] This verse is very obscure; it is not clear whether half the children spoke in a strange dialect, or all the children spoke in a half-strange dialect; nor whether the last clause refers to half-Jewish children who spoke wholly in the dialects of Moab, Ammon, and other neighbouring countries, or to half-Jewish children whose speech alternated between that of other countries and that of Judaea. On the analogy of I Par. 12.33, we should expect ‘race and race’, like ‘heart and heart’, to mean an alternation of usage.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd