Nehemiah 5:1-7:3

Darby Translation

5 And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.

² And there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many, and we must procure corn that we may eat and live.

³ 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.

⁴ And there were that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute upon our fields and vineyards;

⁵ 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.

⁶ And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.

⁹ 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?

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ 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.

¹² 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.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ 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.

¹⁸ 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.

¹⁹ Remember for me, my God, for good, all that I have done for this people.

6 And it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobijah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it (though at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),

² that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.

³ And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it and come down to you?

⁴ And they sent to me four times after this sort; and I answered them in the same manner.

⁵ Then sent Sanballat his servant to me in this manner the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand,

⁶ in which was written: It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says [it, that] thou and the Jews think to rebel, for which cause thou buildest the wall, and according to these words thou wilt become their king.

⁷ And thou hast also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning thee at Jerusalem saying, There is a king in Judah! And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

⁸ And I sent to him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.

⁹ For they all would have made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be slackened from the work, that it be not carried out.—Now therefore strengthen my hands!

¹⁰ And I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabeel, who had shut himself up. And he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; for they are coming to kill thee; even in the night are they coming to kill thee.

¹¹ And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, could go into the temple, and live? I will not go in.

¹² And I perceived, and behold, God had not sent him; for he pronounced this prophecy against me; and Tobijah and Sanballat had hired him.

¹³ Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have wherewith to spread an evil report, that they might reproach me.

¹⁴ My God, remember Tobijah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who would have put me in fear.

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.

¹⁶ And it came to pass that when all our enemies heard [of it], all the nations that were about us were afraid and were much cast down in their own eyes, and they perceived that this work was wrought by our God.

¹⁷ Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobijah, and those of Tobijah came to them.

¹⁸ For there were many in Judah sworn to him; for he was a son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

¹⁹ Also they spoke of his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. [And] Tobijah sent letters to put me in fear.

7 And it came to pass when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, that the doorkeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.

² And I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the citadel, charge over Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man and feared God above many.

³ And I said to them that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened until the sun was hot, and that they should shut the doors and bar them while they stood by; and that there should be appointed watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his house.