Nehemiah 5

vattehi tsa'aqat ha'am uneshehem gedolah el-akhehem hayyehudim

There was a great outcry by the common folk against their fellow Jews.

veyesh asher omerim banenu uvenotenu anakhnu rabbim veniqkhah dagan venokhelah venikhyeh

Some said, “Our sons and daughters are numerous; we must get grain to eat in order that we may live!”

veyesh asher omerim sedotenu ukheramenu uvattenu anakhnu orevim veniqkhah dagan bara'av

Others said, “We must pawn our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain to stave off hunger.”

veyesh asher omerim lavinu khesef lemiddat hammelekh sedotenu ukheramenu

Yet others said, “We have borrowed money against our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax.

ve'attah kivsar akhenu besarenu kivnehem banenu vehinneh anakhnu khoveshim et-banenu ve'et-benotenu la'avadim veyesh mibbenotenu nikhbashot ve'en le'el yadenu usedotenu ukheramenu la'akherim

Now we are as good as our kin, and our children as good as theirs; yet here we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery—some of our daughters are already subjected—and we are powerless, while our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

vayyikhar li me'od ka'asher shamati et-za'aqatam ve'et haddevarim ha'elleh

It angered me very much to hear their outcry and these complaints.

vayyimmalekh libbi alay va'arivah et-hakhorim ve'et-hasseganim va'omerah lahem masha ish-be'akhiv attem (nshym) [noshim] va'etten alehem qehillah gedolah

After pondering the matter carefully, I censured the nobles and the prefects, saying, “Are you pressing claims on loans made to your own kin?” Then I raised a large crowd against them

va'omerah lahem anakhnu qaninu et-akhenu hayyehudim hannimkarim laggoyim kede vanu vegam-attem timkeru et-akhekhem venimkeru-lanu vayyakharishu velo matse'u davar

and said to them, “We have done our best to buy back our fellow Jews who were sold to the nations; will you now sell your own kin so that they must be sold [back] to us?” They kept silent, for they found nothing to answer.

(vymr) [va'omar] lo-tov haddavar asher-attem osim halo beyirat elohenu telekhu mekherpat haggoyim oyevenu

So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. You ought to act in a God-fearing way so as not to give our enemies, the nations, room to reproach us.

vegam-ani akhay une'aray noshim bahem kesef vedagan na'azvah-nna et-hammasha hazzeh

I, my kindred, and my servants also have claims of money and grain against them; let us now abandon those claims!

hashivu na lahem kehayyom sedotehem karmehem zetehem uvattehem ume'at hakkesef vehaddagan hattirosh vehayyitshar asher attem noshim bahem

Give back at once their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their homes, and [abandon] the claims for the hundred pieces of silver, the grain, the wine, and the oil that you have been pressing against them!”

vayyomeru nashiv umehem lo nevaqqesh ken na'aseh ka'asher attah omer va'eqra et-hakkohanim va'ashbi'em la'asot kaddavar hazzeh

They replied, “We shall give them back, and not demand anything of them; we shall do just as you say.” Summoning the priests, I put them under oath to keep this promise.

gam-khotsni na'arti va'omerah kakhah yena'er ha'elohim et-kol-ha'ish asher lo-yaqim et-haddavar hazzeh mibbeto umigi'o vekhakhah yihyeh na'ur vareq vayyomeru khol-haqqahal amen vayehalelu et-Adonai vayya'as ha'am kaddavar hazzeh

I also shook out the bosom of my garment and said, “So may God shake loose from their household and property any and all who fail to keep this promise; may they be thus shaken loose and stripped.” All the assembled answered, “Amen,” and praised GOD. The people kept this promise.

gam miyyom asher-tsivvah oti lihyot pekham be'erets yehudah mishenat esrim ve'ad shenat sheloshim ushetayim le'artakhshast hammelekh shanim shetem esreh ani ve'akhay lekhem happekhah lo akhalti

Furthermore, from the day I was commissioned to be governor in the land of Judah—from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes until his thirty-second year, twelve years in all—neither I nor my brothers ever ate of the governor’s food allowance.

vehappakhot harishonim asher-lefanay hikhbidu al-ha'am vayyiqkhu mehem belekhem vayayin akhar kesef-sheqalim arba'im gam na'arehem shaletu al-ha'am va'ani lo-asiti khen mippene yirat elohim

The former governors who preceded me laid heavy burdens on the people, and took from them for bread and wine more than forty shekels of silver. Their servants also tyrannized over the people. But I, out of the fear of God, did not do so.

vegam bimlekhet hakhomah hazzot hekhezaqti vesadeh lo qaninu vekhol-ne'aray qevutsim sham al-hammelakhah

I also supported the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there at the work.

vehayyehudim vehasseganim me'ah vakhamishim ish vehabba'im elenu min-haggoyim asher-sevivotenu al-shulkhani

Although there were at my table, between Jews and prefects, one hundred and fifty men in all, beside those who came to us from surrounding nations;

va'asher hayah na'aseh leyom ekhad shor ekhad tson shesh-berurot vetsipporim na'asu-li uven aseret yamim bekhol-yayin leharbeh ve'im-zeh lekhem happekhah lo viqqashti ki-khavedah ha'avodah al-ha'am hazzeh

and although what was prepared for each day came to one ox, six select sheep, and fowl, all prepared for me, and at ten-day intervals all sorts of wine in abundance—yet I did not resort to the governor’s food allowance, for the [king’s] service lay heavily on the people.

zokhrah-lli elohay letovah kol asher-asiti al-ha'am hazzeh

O my God, remember to my credit all that I have done for this people!