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There were others who were saying, “We borrowed money to pay the royal tax on our fields and vineyards. Although our flesh is the same as the flesh of our countrymen, and our children are as good as their children, we must subject our sons and our daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we have no power to prevent it, since our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

It infuriated me when I heard their outcry and these words.

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Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax(A) on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood(B) as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery.(C) Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”(D)

When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.

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