³ Tobiah^(A) the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”^(B)

⁴ Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms^(A) of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah,^{(B) 5} and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes^(C) of grain, new wine and olive oil prescribed for the Levites, musicians and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.

⁶ But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes^(D) king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission ⁷ and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib^(E) had done in providing Tobiah^(F) a room in the courts of the house of God.