1. At that time, when the book of Moses was being read in the hearing of the people, it was found written there: “No Ammonite or Moabite may ever be admitted into the assembly of God;
2. for they did not meet the Israelites with food and water, but they hired Balaam to curse them, though our God turned the curse into a blessing.”
3. When they had heard the law, they separated all those of mixed descent from Israel.
4. Before this, the priest Eliashib, who had been placed in charge of the chambers of the house of our God and who was an associate of Tobiah,
5. had set aside for the latter’s use a large chamber in which had previously been stored the grain offerings, incense and vessels, the tithes in grain, wine, and oil allotted to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the offerings due the priests.
6. During all this time I had not been in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I had gone back to the king. After a suitable period of time, however, I asked leave of the king