Nehemiah 5:14-16

New International Reader's Version

¹⁴ And that’s not all. I was appointed as governor of Judah in the 20th year that Artaxerxes was king of Persia. I remained in that position until his 32nd year. During those 12 years, I and my relatives didn’t eat the food that was provided for my table. ¹⁵ But there had been governors before me. They had put a heavy load on the people. They had taken a pound of silver from each of them. They had also taken food and wine from them. Their officials had acted like high and mighty rulers over them. But because of my great respect for God, I didn’t act like that. ¹⁶ Instead, I spent all my time working on this wall. All my men were gathered there to work on it too. We didn’t receive any land for ourselves.