Nehemiah 5:1-19

The *Jews build Jerusalem’s city wall again

Nehemiah

Robert Bryce and Robert Betts

Chapter 5

v1 At this time, some men and their wives became angry. They complained about some other *Jews. v2 They said, ‘We have many sons and daughters. We need grain so that we can eat. Otherwise we shall die.’

v3 Other men said, ‘We have to sell our fields, our *vineyards and our houses to buy grain during the *famine.’

v4 And other men said, ‘We have to ask people to lend us money. Otherwise we would be unable to pay the king’s tax on our fields and *vineyards. v5 We have to sell our sons and daughters to other *Jews as slaves. But we are *Jews, even as they are. Our sons and their sons are alike. But some of our daughters are already slaves. We can do nothing about this because our fields and our *vineyards already belong to other people.’