From the early Church Fathers to now.
1 Jewish · 1 Methodist · 1 Catholic
“And for the offering of wood at times appointed, and for the firstfruits: remember me, O my God, unto good. Amen.”
“at appointed times They would cut wood for the altar pyre at appointed times. and concerning the first fruits that they should bring the first fruits at a certain time; for each species I appointed its time.”
“For the wood-offering - This was a most necessary regulation: without it the temple service could not have gone forward; and therefore Nehemiah mentions this as one of the most important services he had rendered to his nation. See Neh 10:34. Remember me, O my God, for good - This has precisely the same meaning with, O my God, have mercy upon me! and thus alone it should be understood. Of Nehemiah the Jews speak as one of the greatest men of their nation. His concern for his country, manifested by such unequivocal marks, entitles him to the character of the first patriot that ever lived. In the course of the Divine providence, he was a captive in Babylon; but there his excellences were so apparent, that he was chosen by the Persian king to fill an office the most respectable and the most confidential in the whole court. Here he lived in ease and affluence; he lacked no manner of thing that was good; and here he might have continued to live, in the same affluence and in the same confidence: but he could enjoy neither, so long as his people were distressed, the sepulchres of his fathers trodden under foot, the altars of his God overturned, and his worship either totally neglected or corrupted. He sought the peace of Jerusalem; he prayed to God for it; and was willing to sacrifice wealth, ease, and safety, and even life itself, if he might be the instrument of restoring the desolations of Israel. And God, who saw the desire of his heart, and knew the excellences with which he had endowed him, granted his request, and gave him the high honor of restoring the desolated city of his ancestors, and the pure worship of their God. On this account he has been considered by several as an expressive type of Jesus Christ, and many parallels have been shown in their lives and conduct. I have already, in several notes, vindicated him from all mercenary and interested views, as well as from all false notions of religion, grounded on human merit. For disinterestedness, philanthropy, patriotism, prudence, courage, zeal, humanity, and every virtue that constitutes a great mind, and proves a soul in deep communion with God, Nehemiah will ever stand conspicuous among the greatest men of the Jewish nation, and an exemplar worthy to be copied by the first patriots in every nation under heaven. It has already been observed that, in the Jewish canon, Ezra and Nehemiah make but one book; and that both have been attributed, but without reason, to the same author: hence the Syriac version ends with this colophon - The end of the book of Ezra, the scribe, in which are contained two thousand three hundred and sixty-one verses.”
“Wood. Conformably to the regulations mentioned, chap. x. 34. (Calmet) — Good. A just man may confidently beg for a reward. (Worthington) — Amen, is not found in Hebrew, &c. The Holy Spirit records the praises of Nehemias, Ecclesiasticus xlix. 15. His political and moral virtues must ever assign him an exalted rank among the true Israelites. Like Jesus Christ, he rebuilt Jerusalem, reformed the nation, was the mediator of a new covenant, defended the rights of the priesthood and of all the people. (Calmet) Bible Text & Cross-references: Divers abuses are reformed. 1 And* on that day they read in the book of Moses, in the hearing of the people: and therein was found written, that the Ammonites and the Moabites should not come into the church of God for ever: 2 Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and water: and they hired against them Balaam, to curse them: and our God turned the curse into blessing. 3 And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated every stranger from Israel. 4 And over this thing was Eliasib, the priest, who was set over the treasury of the house of our God, and was near akin to Tobias. 5 And he made him a great store-room, where before him they laid up gifts, and frankincense, and vessels, and the tithes of the corn, of the wine, and of the oil, the portions of the Levites, and of the singing men, and of the porters, and the first-fruits of the priests. 6 But in all this time I was not in Jerusalem, because in the two and thirtieth year* of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went to the king, and after certain days I asked the king: 7 And I came to Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliasib had done for Tobias, to make him a storehouse in the courts of the house of God. 8 And it seemed to me exceedingly evil. And I cast forth the vessels of the house of Tobias out of the storehouse. 9 And I commanded, and they cleansed the storehouses: and I brought thither again the vessels of the house of God, the sacrifice, and the frankincense. 10 And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: and that the Levites, and the singing men, and they that ministered, were fled away, every man to his own country. 11 And I pleaded the matter against the magistrates, and said: Why have we forsaken the house of God? And I gathered them together, and I made them to stand in their places. 12 And all Juda brought the tithe of the corn, and the wine, and the oil, into the storehouses. 13 And we set over the storehouses Selemias, the priest, and Sadoc, the scribe, and of the Levites, Phadaia, and next to them Hanan, the son of Zachur, the son of Mathania: for they were approved as faithful, and to them were committed the portions of their brethren. 14 Remember me, O my God, for this thing, and wipe not out my kindnesses, which I have done relating to the house of my God, and his ceremonies. 15 In those days I saw in Juda some treading the presses on the sabbath, and carrying sheaves, and lading asses with wine, and grapes, and figs, and all manner of burthens, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the sabbath-day. And I charged them that they should sell on a day on which it was lawful to sell. 16 Some Tyrians also dwelt there, who brought fish, and all manner of wares: and they sold them on the sabbaths to the children of Juda in Jerusalem. 17 And I rebuked the chief men of Juda, and said to them: What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath-day? 18 Did not our fathers do these things, and our God brought all this evil upon us, and upon this city? And you bring more wrath upon Israel by violating the sabbath. 19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem were at rest on the sabbath-day, I spoke: and they shut the gates, and I commanded that they should not open them till after the sabbath: and I set some of my servants at the gates, that none should bring in burthens on the sabbath-day. 20 So the merchants, and they that sold all kind of wares, stayed without Jerusalem once or twice. 21 And I charged them, and I said to them: Why stay you before the wall? if you do so another time, I will lay hands on you. And from that time they came no more on the sabbath. 22 I spoke also to the Levites, that they should be purified, and should come to keep the gates, and to sanctify the sabbath-day: for this, also, remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 23 In those days, also, I saw Jews that married wives, women of Azotus, and of Ammon, and of Moab. 24 And their children spoke half in the speech of Azotus, and could not speak the Jews’ language, but they spoke according to the language of this and that people. 25 And I chid them, and laid my curse upon them. And I beat some of them, and shaved off their hair, and made them swear by God that they would not give their daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for their sons, nor for themselves, saying: 26 *Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin in this kind of thing? and surely among many nations, there was not a king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel:** and yet women of other countries brought even him to sin. 27 And shall we also be disobedient, and do all this great evil, to transgress against our God, and marry strange women? 28 And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliasib, the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanaballet, the Horonite, and I drove him from me. 29 Remember them, O Lord my God, that defile the priesthood, and the law of priests and Levites. 30 So I separated from them all strangers, and I appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites, every man in his ministry: 31 And for the offering of wood at times appointed, and for the first-fruits: remember me, O my God, unto good. Amen.”
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.