4-5. But, before that happened, Eliashib had given a room in the Temple to Tobiah. Eliashib was the priest in charge of the storerooms in our God’s Temple. And he was a close friend of Tobiah. That room had been used for storing the grain offerings, incense, and the Temple dishes and things. They also kept the tenth of grain, new wine, and oil for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers in that room. And they also kept the gifts for the priests in that room. But Eliashib gave that room to Tobiah.
6. I was not in Jerusalem while all of this was happening. I had gone back to the king of Babylon. I went back to Babylon in the 32nd year that Artaxerxes was king of Babylon. Later, I asked the king for permission to go back to Jerusalem.
7. So I came back to Jerusalem. There I heard about the sad thing that Eliashib had done. He had given Tobiah a room in the Temple of God!
8. I was very angry about what Eliashib had done, so I threw all of Tobiah’s things out of the room.
9. I gave commands for the rooms to be made pure and clean. Then I put the Temple dishes and things, the grain offerings, and the incense back into the rooms.
10. I also heard that the people had not given the Levites their share. So the Levites and singers had gone back to work in their own fields.
11. So I told the officials that they were wrong. I asked them, “Why didn’t you take care of God’s Temple?” Then I called all Levites together and told them to go back to their places and duties in the Temple.
12. Then everyone in Judah brought their tenth of grain, new wine, and oil to the Temple. These things were put into the storerooms.
13. I put these men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher, and a Levite named Pedaiah. And I made Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, their helper. I knew I could trust these men. They were responsible for giving the supplies to their relatives.
14. My God, please remember me for these things I have done. Don’t forget all I have faithfully done for the Temple of my God and for its services.
15. In those days in Judah, I saw people working on the Sabbath day. I saw people pressing grapes to make wine. I saw people bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys. I saw people carrying grapes, figs, and all kinds of things in the city. They were bringing all these things into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, so I warned them about this. I told them they must not sell food on the Sabbath day.