31. After the sacrifice was consumed, Nehemiah ordered the rest of the liquid to be poured upon large stones.
32. As soon as this was done, a flame blazed up, but its light was lost in the brilliance coming from the altar.
33. When the event became known and the king of the Persians was told that, in the very place where the exiled priests had hidden the fire, a liquid was found with which Nehemiah and his people had burned the sacrifices,
34. the king, after verifying the fact, fenced the place off and declared it sacred.
35. To those whom the king favored, he distributed many benefits he received.
36. Nehemiah and his companions called the liquid nephthar, meaning purification, but most people named it naphtha.