Nehemiah 5:1-7

The men and their wives complained loudly against their fellow Jews. Some of them were saying, “We have many sons and daughters in our families. To eat and stay alive, we need grain.” Others were saying, “We are borrowing money against our fields, vineyards, and homes to get grain because there is not much food.” And still others were saying, “We are borrowing money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. We are just like our fellow Jews, and our sons are like their sons. But we have to sell our sons and daughters as slaves. Some of our daughters have already been sold. But there is nothing we can do, because our fields and vineyards already belong to other people.” When I heard their complaints about these things, I was very angry. After I thought about it, I accused the important people and the leaders, “You are charging your own brothers too much interest.” So I called a large meeting to deal with them.