131 On that day they read aloud from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people ; and there was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God , 2 because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water , but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing . 3 So when they heard the law , they excluded all foreigners from Israel . 4 Now prior to this , Eliashib the priest , who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God , being related to Tobiah , 5 had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings , the frankincense , the utensils and the tithes of grain , wine and oil prescribed for the Levites , the singers and the gatekeepers , and the contributions for the priests . 6 But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem , for in the thirty-second e year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had gone to the king . After some time , however, I asked leave from the king , 7 and I came to Jerusalem and learned about the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah , by preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God . 8 It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah's household goods out of the room . 9 Then I gave an order and they cleansed the rooms ; and I returned there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Nehemiah 13:1-9
Commentary on Nehemiah 13:1-9
(Read Nehemiah 13:1-9)
Israel was a peculiar people, and not to mingle with the nations. See the benefit of publicly reading the word of God; when it is duly attended to, it discovers to us sin and duty, good and evil, and shows wherein we have erred. We profit, when we are thus wrought upon to separate from evil. Those that would drive sin out of their hearts, the living temples, must throw out its household stuff, and all the provision made for it; and take away all the things that are the food and fuel of lust; this is really to mortify it. When sin is cast out of the heart by repentance, let the blood of Christ be applied to it by faith, then let it be furnished with the graces of God's Spirit, for every good work.