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.