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Nehemiah Defends the Oppressed
About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews.
About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews.
Nehemiah Defends the Oppressed
And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
They were saying, “We have such large families. We need more food to survive.”
And there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many, and we must procure corn that we may eat and live.
Others said, “We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine.”
And there were that said, We have had to pledge our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, that we might procure corn in the dearth.
And others said, “We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes.
And there were that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute upon our fields and vineyards;
We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others.”
yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and behold, we must bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage [already]; neither is it in the power of our hand [to redeem them], for other men have our fields and our vineyards.
When I heard their complaints, I was very angry.
And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, “You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!” Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem.
And I consulted with myself; and I remonstrated with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother! And I set a great assembly against them.
At the meeting I said to them, “We are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?” And they had nothing to say in their defense.
And I said to them, We, according to our ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold to the nations; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? And they were silent and found no answer.
Then I pressed further, “What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations?
And I said, The thing that ye do is not good. Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, so as not to be the reproach of the nations our enemies?
I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of charging interest.
I also, my brethren and my servants, we might exact usury of them, money and corn. I pray you, let us leave off this usury.
You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.”
Restore, I pray you, to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive-gardens, and their houses, also the hundredth [part] of the money, and of the corn, the wine and the oil, that ye have exacted of them.
They replied, “We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the nobles and officials swear to do what they had promised.
And they said, We will restore [them], and will require nothing of them; so will we do, as thou hast said. And I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.
I shook out the folds of my robe and said, “If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you like this from your homes and from your property!”
The whole assembly responded, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
The whole assembly responded, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house and from his earnings, that performeth not this promise: even thus be he shaken out and emptied! And all the congregation said, Amen! And they praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.
Nehemiah's Generosity
Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.
Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.
But the former governors that were before me had been chargeable to the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver: even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not so, because of the fear of God.
I also devoted myself to working on the wall and refused to acquire any land. And I required all my servants to spend time working on the wall.
Yea, also I applied myself to this work of the wall, and we bought no fields; and all my servants were gathered thither for the work.
I asked for nothing, even though I regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at my table, besides all the visitors from other lands!
And there were at my table a hundred and fifty of the Jews and the rulers, besides those that came to us from among the nations that were about us.
The provisions I paid for each day included one ox, six choice sheep or goats, and a large number of poultry. And every ten days we needed a large supply of all kinds of wine. Yet I refused to claim the governor’s food allowance because the people already carried a heavy burden.
And that which was prepared daily was one ox [and] six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days all sorts of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I demanded not the bread of the governor; for the service was heavy upon this people.