A   And þt; daye dyd they reade in the boke of Moses, ∧ þe; people herkened therto, ∧ there was fo&ubar;d writen therin, ^note þt; the Ammonites ∧ Moabites shulde neuer come into the c&obar;gregacion of God, because they mett not þe; childr&ebar; of Israel &wt; bread &abar;d water, ^note but hyred Bala&abar; agaynst them, þt; he shuld curse them: and oure God turned the curse into a blessing. Now when they herde the lawe, it fortuned, þt; they separated from Israell euery one that had myxte hym selfe therin And before this had þe; preast Eliasib þe; ouer syght of þe; treasury of þe; house of oure God, ∧ he was kynsman vnto Tobia: ∧ had made him a great chambre, ∧ there had they afore tyme layed þe; offeringes, frankenc&ebar;se, vessell, ∧ the tythes of corne, and wyne and oyle (accordyng to the c&obar;maundement geu&ebar; to the Leuites, syngers and porters) and the heueofferynges of the preastes:

But in all this tyme was not I at Ierusal&ebar;: for in þe; two ∧ thyrtie yeare of Artaxerses kyng of Babyl&obar;, came I vnto the kyng, and after certayne dayes optayned I lyc&ebar;ce of the kyng to come to Ierusal&ebar;. B   And I gat knowlege of þe; euell that Eliasib dyd vnto Tobia, in þt; he had made him a ch&abar;bre in the court of the house of God, and it greued me sore, ∧ I cast forth all the vessels of the house of Tobia out of the ch&abar;bre, and commaunded them to cl&ebar;se the chambres. And thither brought I agayne the vessels of the house of God, with the meatoffering, and the incense.

And I perceaued, that the porci&obar;s of the Leuites were not geu&ebar; them, and that euery one fled to his land, euen þe; Leuites and syngers þt; executed þe; worke. Th&ebar; reproued I þe; rulers, ∧ sayd? why is þe; house of God forsak&ebar;? And I gathered th&ebar; together, ∧ set th&ebar; in their place. Then brought all Iuda þe; tythes of corne, ∧ wyne and oyle vnto the treasure. And I made treasurers ouer þe; treasure, eu&ebar; Selemiah the preast, ∧ Zadoc the scrybe, and of the Leuites, Phadaia, ∧ vnder their hand was Hanan the sonne of Zacur the sonne of Mathania: for they were counted faythfull, and their office was to distribute the porci&obar;s vnto their brethren. ^noteThyncke vpon me O my God here in, and wipe not out my mercy that I haue shewed on the house of my God, and on the offices therof.

At the same tyme sawe I some tredynge wyne presses on the Saboth, ∧ bryngyng in shefes, ∧ asses laden &wt; wyne, grapes, figges ∧ brynging all maner of burthens vnto Ierusal&ebar;, vp&obar; the Sabaoth daye. And I rebuked th&ebar; earnestly þe; same daye that they sold the vitayles. C   There dwelt m&ebar; of Tyre also therin, which brought fysh and all maner of ware, ∧ solde on the Saboth vnto þe; children of Iuda in Ierusalem. Then reproued I the rulers in Iuda, ∧ sayde vnto th&ebar;: what euell thyng is this þt; ye do, ∧ breake the Saboth daye? Dyd not youre fathers eu&ebar; thus, ∧ our God brought all thys plage vpon vs ∧ vp&obar; this cytie? And ye make the wrath more yet vpon Israel, in that ye breake the Saboth.

And it fortuned, þt; wh&ebar; the portes of Ierusalem beganne to be darke in the euenyng before the Saboth, I commaunded to shutt the gates, &abar;d charged, that they shuld not be opened tyll after the Saboth ∧ some of my seruauntes set I at the gates, þt; there shulde no burth&ebar; be brought in on þe; Saboth daye. Then remayned þe; chapmen ∧ marchauntes once or twyce ouer nyght without Ierusal&ebar; wyth all maner of wares. Then reproued I them sore, and sayde vnto th&ebar;: why tary ye all nyght about the wall? If ye do it once agayne, I wyll laye handes vpon you. From þt; tyme forth came they nomore on the Saboth. And I sayde vnto the Leuites þt; they shulde clense th&ebar; selues, and that they shulde come and kepe the gates, to halowe the Saboth daye. D   Thynke vpon me (O my God) concernyng this also, ∧ spare me, accordyng to thy great mercy.

And at the same tyme sawe I Iewes, that maried wyues of Asdod, of Ammon and of Moab, ∧ their child&ebar; spake halfe in þe; speach of Asdod, ∧ coulde not speake in the Iewes language, but by the tong myght a m&abar; perceaue euery people. Then I reproued them, ∧ cursed them, ∧ smote certayne men of th&ebar;, ∧ made th&ebar; bare, and toke an ooth of th&ebar; by God: Ye shal not geue your daughters vnto their s&obar;nes, nether shall ye take their daughters vnto youre sonnes, or for youre selues. Dyd not Salom&obar; the kyng of Israel synne for soch? and yet among many Heythen was there no kynge lyke him, whych was deare vnto his God, ∧ God made him kynge ouer all Israel, ∧ yet neuertheles, outlandysh wemen caused h&ibar; to synne? Shall we then obeye vnto you, to do all this great euell, ∧ to tr&abar;sgresse agaynst oure God, and marye stra&ubar;ge wyues?

And one of the children of Iehoiada the

sonne of Eliasib the hye preast, had made a c&obar;tracte with Sanabalat the Horonite: but I chaced him from me. (O my God) thynke thou vpon them that defyle the presthode, ∧ the couenaunt of the presthode ∧ of the Leuites. Thus clensed I th&ebar; from all soch as were outlandish, and appoynted the courses of þe; preastes ∧ Leuites, euery one in his office, ∧ to offre the wod at tymes appoynted, and the fyrst frutes. Thinke thou vpon me (O my God) for the best. (Amen.) ¶ The ende of the seconde boke of Esdras, otherwyse called the boke of Nehemia.

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