Neh 5 | ABEn | STEP | And [ 7 was 1 the 2 cry 3 of the 4 people 5 and 6 their wives] great against their brethren of the Jews.

‏ Nehemiah 5

CHAPTER 5 The Jews Quarrel Over Servitude

1 And [⁷was ¹the ²cry ³of the ⁴people ⁵and ⁶their wives] great against their brethren of the Jews. 2 And there were some saying, With our sons and with our daughters we are many; and we shall take grain, and shall eat and shall live. 3 And there are some saying, Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses we mortgaged, and we shall take grain and we shall eat. 4 And there are some saying, We borrowed money for tribute of the king of our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses. 5 And now [²is as ³the flesh ⁴of our brethren ¹our flesh]; as their sons our sons; and behold, we are tyrannizing over our sons and our daughters selling them for servants, and there are some of our daughters being tyrannized already; and there is no power to redeem them by our hands, for our fields and our vineyards belong to the important ones. 6 And I fretted very much as I heard their cry and these words. 7 And [²took counsel ¹my heart] with me, and I did combat against the important ones, and the rulers. And I said to them, Shall [²exact ¹a man] from his brother what you do? And I put upon them [²assembly ¹a great]. 8 And I said to them, We have acquired our brethren of the Jews, of the ones having been sold to the nations, by our voluntary offerings; and do you sell your brethren? Or shall they be sold to us? And they were quiet, and they did not find a word. 9 And I said, [³is not good ¹The ²matter] which you do. [²not ⁴thus ⁵in ⁶the fear ⁷of our God ¹Should you ³go forth] because of the scorn of the nations of our enemies? 10 And also I, and my brethren, and my acquaintances, put up for them money and grain; we abandoned indeed this exaction. 11 Return indeed to them, even today, their fields, and their vineyards, and their olive groves, and their houses, and of the money for the grain, and [³the ⁴wine ⁵and ⁶the ⁷olive oil ¹bring forth ²to them]! 12 And they said, We will give it back, and [³from ⁴them ¹we will not ²seek], we shall do thus as you say. And I called the priests, and bound them by an oath to do as this saying. 13 And [²my wrap ¹I shook off], and said, Thus shall [²shake off ¹God] every man who does not stand by this word, of his house, and of his toil; and he will be thus shaken and empty. And [⁴said ¹all ²the ³assembly], Amen. And they praised the lord. And [³did ¹the ²people] this thing. 14 And also from the day which he gave charge to me to be as their ruler in the land of Judah, from [²year ¹the twentieth], and until [⁴year ¹the thirtieth ²and ³second] of Artaxerxes the king, [²years ¹twelve], that even I and my brethren [³bread ⁴of my governing ¹did not ²eat]. 15 But the rulers, the ones before me, oppressed upon the people, and took from them in bread loaves and in wine; and last money [²shekels ¹of forty]. And also their servants dominated over the people. But I did not do so because of the countenance of the fear of the lord. 16 And in the work of the wall [²these things ¹I repaired]. [³fields of land ¹I did not ²acquire], and my servants and all the ones gathering were there for work. 17 And the Jews, and the rulers were a hundred fifty men, and the ones coming to us from the nations round about us were at my table. 18 And there was coming in [²day ¹one] -- [²calf ¹one], and [³sheep ¹six ²choice], and a winter yearling; there came to me also in the midst of ten days all wine in multitude. And with these [³bread ⁴of my governing ¹I did not ²seek], for [³was heavy ¹the ²slavery] upon this people. 19 Remember me, O God! for all good as much as I did to this people.