Nehemiah 5:1-5

English Standard Version

Nehemiah Stops Oppression of the Poor

5 Now there arose ^(A)a great outcry of the people and of their wives ^(B)against their Jewish brothers. ² For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” ³ There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” ⁴ And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for ^(C)the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. ⁵ Now ^(D)our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet ^(E)we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”