But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from Ashdod were very angry when they heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls were continuing and that the holes in the wall were being closed.
Foreigners who have joined the Lord should not say, “The Lord will not accept me with his people.” The eunuch should not say, “Because I cannot have children, the Lord will not accept me.”
This message is to the Ammonite people. This is what the Lord says: “Do you think that Israel has no children? Do you think there is no one to take the land when the parents die? If that were true, why did Molech take Gad’s land and why did Molech’s people settle in Gad’s towns?”
The enemy reached out and took all her precious things. She even saw foreigners enter her Temple. The Lord had commanded foreigners never to enter the meeting place of his people.
No one born to parents who were forbidden by law to marry may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. The descendants for ten generations may not come in either.
The close relative answered, “I can’t buy back the land. If I did, I might harm what I can pass on to my own sons. I cannot buy the land back, so buy it yourself.”