Nehemiah 5
1599 Geneva Bible
5 1 The people are oppressed and in necessity. 6 Nehemiah remedieth it. 14 He took not the portion of others that had ruled before, lest he should grieve the people.
1 Now there was a great cry of the people, and of their wives [a]against their brethren the Jews.
2 For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters are many, therefore we take up [b]corn, that we may eat and live.
3 And there were that said, We must gage our lands, and our vineyards, and our houses, and take up corn for the famine.
4 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s [c]tribute upon our lands and our vineyards.
5 And now our flesh is as [d]the flesh of our brethren, and our sons as their sons: and lo, we bring into subjection our sons and our daughters, as servants, and there be of our daughters now in subjection, and there is no power [e]in our hands: for other men have our lands and our vineyards.
6 Then was I very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
7 And I thought in my mind, and I rebuked the princes, and the rulers, and said unto them, You lay [f]burdens every one upon his brethren: and I set a great [g]assembly against them,
8 And I said unto them, We (according to our ability) have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen: and will you sell your brethren again, or shall they be [h]sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and could not answer.
9 [i]I said also, That which ye do, is not good. Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, for the [j]reproach of the heathen our enemies?
10 For even I, my brethren, and my servants do lend them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this [k]burden.
11 Restore, I pray you, unto them this day their lands, their vineyards, their olives, and their houses, and remit the hundredth part of the silver and of the corn, of the wine, and of the oil [l]that ye exact of them.
12 Then said they, We will restore it, and will not require it of them: we will do as thou hast said. Then I called the Priests and caused them to swear, that they should do according to this promise.
13 So I shook my lap, and said, So let God shake out every man that will not perform this promise, from his house, and from his labor: even thus let him be shaken out and emptied. And all the Congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord: and the people did according to this promise.
14 And from the time that the King gave me charge to be governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year, even unto the two and thirtieth year of King Artaxerxes, that is, twelve years, I, and my brethren have not eaten the [m]bread of the governor.
15 For the former governors that were before me, had been chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver: yea, and their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
16 But rather I fortified a portion in the work of this wall, and we bought no land, and all my servants came thither together unto the work.
17 Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews, and rulers, which came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.
18 And there was prepared daily an ox, and six chosen sheep, and birds were prepared for me, and [n]within ten days wine for all [o]in abundance. Yet for all this I required not the bread of the governor: for the bondage was grievous unto this people.
19 Remember me, O my God, in goodness, according to all that I have done for this people.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 5:1 Against the rich which oppressed them.
- Nehemiah 5:2 This is the complaint of the people, showing to what extremity they were brought unto.
- Nehemiah 5:4 To pay our tribute to the king of the Persians, which was exacted yearly of us.
- Nehemiah 5:5 By nature the rich is no better than the poor.
- Nehemiah 5:5 We are not able to redeem them, but for poverty are constrained to hire them to others.
- Nehemiah 5:7 You press them with usury, and seek how to bring all things into your hands.
- Nehemiah 5:7 Both because they should be moved with pity, seeing how many were by them oppressed, and also hear the judgment of others, which should be as it were witnesses of their dealings toward their brethren.
- Nehemiah 5:8 Seeing God hath once delivered them from the bondage of the heathen, shall we make them our slaves?
- Nehemiah 5:9 Meaning, Nehemiah.
- Nehemiah 5:9 Who by this occasion will blaspheme the Name of God, seeing that our acts are no better than theirs.
- Nehemiah 5:10 Or, usury.
- Nehemiah 5:11 Which ye take of them for the loan.
- Nehemiah 5:14 I received not that portion and diet, which the governors that were before me exacted, wherein he declareth that he rather sought the wealth of the people than his own commodity.
- Nehemiah 5:18 Or, once in ten days.
- Nehemiah 5:18 Whereas at other times they had by measure, at this time they had most liberally.
Nehemiah 5
Complete Jewish Bible
5 Then there arose a great outcry from the common people and their wives against their brothers the [wealthier] Judeans. 2 Some of them said, “Counting our sons and daughters, there are a lot of us! Allow us to get grain for them, so that we can eat and stay alive.” 3 There were also some who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, vineyards and homes in order to buy grain, because of the famine.” 4 Yet others said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s taxes against our fields and vineyards. 5 Now our flesh is no different from the flesh of our kinsmen, and our children are the same as their children; yet we are bringing our sons and daughters into bondage as slaves. Some of our daughters have gone into slavery already, and it’s beyond our power to do anything about it, because other men have our fields and vineyards.”
6 When I heard their outcry and the reasons for it, I became very angry. 7 I thought the matter over and then took issue with the nobles and rulers. I charged them, “You are lending against pledges, everyone to his brother”; and I summoned a great assembly to deal with them. 8 I said to them, “We, to the limit of our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Judeans who sold themselves to the pagans. Now you are selling your own brothers, and we will have to buy them back!” They stayed silent; they couldn’t think of anything to say. 9 I also said, “What you are doing is not good! You should be living in fear of our God, so that our pagan enemies won’t have grounds for deriding us. 10 Moreover, my brothers and my servants, I too have loaned them money and grain. Please, let’s stop making it so burdensome to go into debt. 11 Please! Today! Give them back their fields, vineyards, olive groves and homes; also the hundred pieces of silver and the grain, wine and olive oil you demand from them as interest.”
12 They answered, “We will give it back. We will require nothing from them. Yes, we will do it, just as you say.” Then I called the cohanim and took an oath from them that they would do as they had promised. 13 Shaking out the fold in my garment, I said, “May God thus shake every man from his house and from his work who fails to live up to this promise — may he be shaken out like this and made empty.” The whole assembly said, “Amen!” and praised Adonai; and the people did as they had promised.
14 Besides that, from the time I was appointed their governor in the land of Y’hudah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of Artach’shashta the king — that is, for twelve years — neither I nor my colleagues drew on the governor’s living allowance. 15 The earlier governors, before me, had burdened the people, taxing them more than one-and-a-half pounds of silver shekels for food and wine; and even their servants lorded it over the people. But I didn’t, because I feared God. 16 Moreover, I put all my energy into working on this wall. We didn’t buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.
17 There were 150 leaders and other Judeans who ate at my table, besides those who came to us from the surrounding nations. 18 Every day one ox, six choice sheep, and fowl were prepared for me, and every ten days a supply of all kinds of wine. Yet in spite of all this, I never claimed the governor’s allowance, because the people were already bearing the heavy burden of their labor. 19 My God, remember favorably everything I have done for this people!
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.