Nehemiah 5:1-19
Nehemiah Helps Some Poor People
Some men and their wives cried out against their Jewish brothers and sisters. Some of them were saying, “There are now many of us. We have many sons and daughters. We have to get some grain so we can eat and stay alive.”
Others were saying, “We’re being forced to sell our fields, vineyards and homes. We have to do it to buy grain. There isn’t enough food for everyone.”
Still others were saying, “We’ve had to borrow money. We needed it to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. We belong to the same family lines as the rest of our people. Our children are as good as theirs. But we’ve had to sell them off as slaves. Some of our daughters have already been made slaves. But we can’t do anything about it. That’s because our fields and vineyards now belong to others.”
I heard them when they cried out. And I was very angry when I heard what they were saying. I thought it over for a while. Then I accused the nobles and officials of breaking the law. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large group of people to handle the matter. I said, “Our Jewish brothers and sisters were sold to other nations. We’ve done everything we could to buy them back and bring them home. But look at what you are doing! You are actually selling your own people! Now we’ll have to buy them back too!” The people kept quiet. They couldn’t think of anything to say.
So I continued, “What you are doing isn’t right. Shouldn’t you show respect for our God? Shouldn’t you live in a way that will keep our enemies from saying bad things about us? I’m lending the people money and grain. So are my relatives and my men. But we must stop charging interest! Give the people’s fields back to them. Give them back their vineyards, olive groves and houses. Do it right away. Give everything back to them. Also give them back the one percent on the money, grain, fresh wine and olive oil you have charged them.”
“We’ll give it back,” they said. “And we won’t require anything more from them. We’ll do exactly as you say.”
Then I sent for the priests. I made the nobles and officials promise to do what they had said. I also shook out my pockets and emptied them. I said, “Someone might decide not to keep this promise they have made. If that happens, may God shake them out of their house! May he empty them of everything they own!”
The whole community said, “Amen.” They praised the Lord. And the leaders did what they had promised to do.
And that’s not all. I was appointed as governor of Judah in the 20th year that Artaxerxes was king of Persia. I remained in that position until his 32nd year. During those 12 years, I and my relatives didn’t eat the food that was provided for my table. But there had been governors before me. They had put a heavy load on the people. They had taken a pound of silver from each of them. They had also taken food and wine from them. Their officials had acted like high and mighty rulers over them. But because of my great respect for God, I didn’t act like that. Instead, I spent all my time working on this wall. All my men were gathered there to work on it too. We didn’t receive any land for ourselves.
Many people ate at my table. They included 150 Jews and officials. They also included leaders who came to us from the nations that were around us. Each day one ox, six of the best sheep and some birds were prepared for me. Every ten days plenty of wine of all kinds was brought in as well. In spite of all that, I never asked for the food that was provided for my table. That’s because the people were already paying too many taxes.
You are my God. Please remember me and help me. Keep in mind everything I’ve done for these people.
Nehemiah 6:1-19
Nehemiah’s Enemies Continue to Oppose the Rebuilding
Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, the Arab, heard about what I had done. So did the rest of our enemies. All of them heard I had rebuilt the wall. In fact, they heard there weren’t any gaps left in it. But up to that time I hadn’t put up the gates at the main entrances to the city. Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message. They said, “Come. Let’s talk with one another. Let’s meet in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”
But they were planning to harm me. So I sent messengers to them with my answer. I replied, “I’m working on a huge project. So I can’t get away. Why should the work stop while I leave it? Why should I go down and talk with you?” They sent me the same message four times. And I gave them the same answer each time.
Sanballat sent his helper to me a fifth time. He brought the same message. He was carrying a letter that wasn’t sealed. It said,
“A report is going around among the nations. Geshem says it’s true. We hear that you and the other Jews are planning to turn against the Persian rulers. And that’s why you are building the wall. It’s also reported that you are about to become their king. People say that you have even appointed prophets to make an announcement about you. In Jerusalem they are going to say, ‘Judah has a king!’ That report will get back to the king of Persia. So come. Let’s meet together.”
I sent a reply to Sanballat. I said, “What you are saying isn’t really happening. You are just making it up.”
All of them were trying to frighten us. They thought, “Their hands will get too weak to do the work. So it won’t be completed.”
But I prayed to God. I said, “Make my hands stronger.”
One day I went to Shemaiah’s house. He was the son of Delaiah. Delaiah was the son of Mehetabel. Shemaiah had shut himself up in his home. He said, “Let’s go to God’s house. Let’s meet inside the temple and close the doors. Some men are coming at night to kill you.”
But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Should someone like me go into the temple just to save his life? No! I won’t go!” I realized that God hadn’t sent Shemaiah. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. That’s why he had prophesied lies about me. They had hired him to scare me. They wanted me to commit a sin by doing what he said. That would give me a bad name in the community. People would find fault with me and my work.
You are my God. Remember what Tobiah and Sanballat have done. Also remember the prophet Noadiah. She and the rest of the prophets have been trying to scare me. So the city wall was completed on the 25th day of the month of Elul. It was finished in 52 days.
Nehemiah’s Enemies Oppose the Completed Wall
All our enemies heard about it. All the nations around us became afraid. They weren’t sure of themselves anymore. They realized that our God had helped us finish the work.
In those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah. And replies from Tobiah came back to them. Many people in Judah had promised that they would be faithful to him. That’s because he was Shekaniah’s son-in-law. Shekaniah was the son of Arah. Tobiah’s son Jehohanan had married Meshullam’s daughter. Meshullam was the son of Berekiah. Tobiah’s friends kept reporting to me the good things he did. They also kept telling him what I said. And Tobiah himself sent letters to scare me.
Nehemiah 7:1-3
The wall had been rebuilt. I had put up the gates at the main entrances to the city. The people who guarded the gates were appointed to their positions. So were the musicians and the Levites. I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem. Hananiah helped him. Hananiah was commander of the fort that was by the temple. Hanani was an honest man. He had more respect for God than most people do. I said to Hanani and Hananiah, “Don’t open the gates of Jerusalem until the hottest time of the day. Tell the men who guard the gates to shut them before they go off duty. Make sure they lock them up tight. Also appoint as guards some people who live in Jerusalem. Station some of them at their appointed places. Station others near their own homes.”
