¹⁴ I would like to mention that for the entire twelve years that I was governor of Judah—from the twentieth until the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes—my aides and I accepted no salaries or other assistance from the people of Israel. ¹⁵ This was quite a contrast to the former governors who had demanded food and wine and $100 a day in cash, and had put the population at the mercy of their aides who tyrannized them; but I obeyed God and did not act that way. ¹⁶ I stayed at work on the wall and refused to speculate in land; I also required my officials to spend time on the wall. ¹⁷ All this despite the fact that I regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at my table, besides visitors from other countries! ¹⁸ The provisions required for each day were one ox, six fat sheep, and a large number of domestic fowls; and we needed a huge supply of all kinds of wines every ten days. Yet I refused to make a special levy against the people, for they were already having a difficult time. ¹⁹ O my God, please keep in mind all that I’ve done for these people and bless me for it.