Jewish Landowners: ³ As a result of the famine, we are pledging livelihood, even our fields, our vineyards, and our homes as a mortgage.

Other Jewish Landowners: ⁴ We are borrowing money so that we can pay King Artaxerxes’ tax on our fields and vineyards because of the famine.

All the Jews: ⁵ Even though we debtors are of the same people as our creditors—the same flesh, the same blood—and even though our children are the same as their children, we are raising this money for taxes by selling our children into slavery. In fact, some of our daughters are slaves already. We are helpless to do anything about it. Why? Because our fields and our vineyards now belong to our creditors!