Nehemiah 10-13 - Covenant and Backsliding

As the wall was completed, the leadership of the returning Jews formally renewed their covenant with God preparatory to a dedication ceremony for the wall. After that, Nehemiah returned to Persia for a time. When he returned, he found that the Jews had already backslidden. They were working on Shabbat, not giving the Levites their portion of the tithes and continued intermarriage with the pagan inhabitants of the land. To top it off, the priests had moved an Ammonite into the Temple.