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.