Nehemiah 5:7-9

New International Reader's Version

⁷ I thought it over for a while. Then I accused the nobles and officials of breaking the law. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large group of people to handle the matter. ⁸ I said, “Our Jewish brothers and sisters were sold to other nations. We’ve done everything we could to buy them back and bring them home. But look at what you are doing! You are actually selling your own people! Now we’ll have to buy them back too!” The people kept quiet. They couldn’t think of anything to say.

⁹ So I continued, “What you are doing isn’t right. Shouldn’t you show respect for our God? Shouldn’t you live in a way that will keep our enemies from saying bad things about us?