Nehemiah 13:2
because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).
What it says
The reason is recalled: those peoples did not meet Israel with food and water and hired Balaam to curse them, though God turned the curse into blessing.
What it is doing
This verse explains why the law speaks so sharply about them.
In context
1At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing). 3As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent.