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NE-5:1 And there was a great cry of the people and of their
wives against
their brethren the Jews.
NE-5:2 For there were that said, We, our sons, and our
daughters, [are] many:
therefore we take up corn [for them], that we may eat, and live.
NE-5:3 [Some] also there were that said, We have mortgaged our
lands,
vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the
dearth.
NE-5:4 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for
the king's
tribute, [and that upon] our lands and vineyards.
NE-5:5 Yet now our flesh [is] as the flesh of our brethren, our
children as
their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our
daughters to
be servants, and [some] of our daughters are brought unto
bondage [already]:
neither [is it] in our power [to redeem them]; for other men
have our lands
and vineyards.
NE-5:6 And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these
words.
NE-5:7 Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles,
and the
rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his
brother. And I
set a great assembly against them.
NE-5:8 And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed
our brethren
the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even
sell your
brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their
peace, and found
nothing [to answer].
NE-5:9 Also I said, It [is] not good that ye do: ought ye not
to walk in the
fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our
enemies?
NE-5:10 I likewise, [and] my brethren, and my servants, might
exact of them
money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury.
NE-5:11 Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their
lands, their
vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the
hundredth [part] of
the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact
of them.
NE-5:12 Then said they, We will restore [them], and will
require nothing of
them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests,
and took an
oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.
NE-5:13 Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every
man from his
house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise,
even thus be he
shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen,
and praised the
LORD. And the people did according to this promise.
NE-5:14 Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their
governor in
the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and
thirtieth
year of Artaxerxes the king, [that is], twelve years, I and my
brethren have
not eaten the bread of the governor.
NE-5:15 But the former governors that [had been] before me were
chargeable
unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside
forty shekels of
silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but
so did not I,
because of the fear of God.
NE-5:16 Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither
bought we any
land: and all my servants [were] gathered thither unto the work.
NE-5:17 Moreover [there were] at my table an hundred and fifty
of the Jews
and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the
heathen that [are]
about us.
NE-5:18 Now [that] which was prepared [for me] daily [was] one
ox [and] six
choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten
days store of
all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of
the governor,
because the bondage was heavy upon this people.
NE-5:19 Think upon me, my God, for good, [according] to all
that I have done
for this people.
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