¹Then some of the people, the men and their wives, complained publicly about their Jewish relatives. ²Some of them said, “We have large families! We need some grain ⸤if we are going⸥ to eat and stay alive.” ³Others said, “We’ve had to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our homes in order to get some grain because of this famine.” ⁴Others said, “We’ve had to borrow money to pay the king’s taxes on our fields and vineyards. ⁵We have the same flesh and blood as our relatives. Our children are just like theirs. Yet, we have to force our sons and daughters to become slaves. Some of our daughters have already become slaves. But we can’t do anything else when our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

Nehemiah Stops the Rich from Taking Advantage of the Poor

⁶I became furious when I heard their complaint and what they had to say. ⁷After thinking it over, I confronted the nobles and the leaders. I told them, “You are charging interest on loans made to your own relatives.” I arranged for a large meeting to deal with them. ⁸Then I told them, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish relatives who had been sold to other nations. Now you are selling your Jewish relatives so that we have to buy them back again!” They were unable to say anything.

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