¹⁴ Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,^(A) when I was appointed to be their governor^(B) in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.

¹⁵ But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels^[a] of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God^(A) I did not act like that.