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Usury Abolished |
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| Nehemiah 5:1 |
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Now there was a great outcry of the people and
of their wives against their Jewish brothers. |
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| Nehemiah 5:2 |
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For there were those who said, "We, our sons
and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live."
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| Nehemiah 5:3 |
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There were others who said, "We are mortgaging
our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the
famine." |
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| Nehemiah 5:4 |
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Also there were those who said, "We have borrowed
money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. |
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| Nehemiah 5:5 |
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"Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers,
our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our
daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already,
and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others." |
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| Nehemiah 5:6 |
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Then I was very angry when I had heard their
outcry and these words. |
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| Nehemiah 5:7 |
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I consulted with myself and contended with the
nobles and the rulers and said to them, "You are exacting usury, each from his
brother!" Therefore, I held a great assembly against them. |
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| Nehemiah 5:8 |
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I said to them, "We according to our ability
have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you
even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?" Then they were silent and
could not find a word to say. |
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| Nehemiah 5:9 |
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Again I said, "The thing which you are doing
is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach
of the nations, our enemies? |
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| Nehemiah 5:10 |
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"And likewise I, my brothers and my servants
are lending them money and grain. Please, let us leave off this usury. |
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| Nehemiah 5:11 |
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"Please, give back to them this very day their
fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, also the hundredth
part of the money and of the grain, the new wine and the oil that you are exacting
from them." |
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| Nehemiah 5:12 |
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Then they said, "We will give it back and will
require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say." So I called the priests
and took an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. |
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| Nehemiah 5:13 |
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I also shook out the front of my garment and
said, "Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions
who does not fulfill this promise; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied."
And all the assembly said, "Amen!" And they praised the LORD. Then the people
did according to this promise. |
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Nehemiah's Example
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| Nehemiah 5:14 |
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Moreover, from the day that I was appointed
to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second
year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten
the governor's food allowance. |
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| Nehemiah 5:15 |
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But the former governors who were before me
laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels
of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because
of the fear of God. |
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| Nehemiah 5:16 |
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I also applied myself to the work on this wall;
we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.
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| Nehemiah 5:17 |
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Moreover, there were at my table one hundred
and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that
were around us. |
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| Nehemiah 5:18 |
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Now that which was prepared for each day was
one ox and six choice sheep, also birds were prepared for me; and once in ten
days all sorts of wine were furnished in abundance. Yet for all this I did not
demand the governor's food allowance, because the servitude was heavy on this
people. |
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| Nehemiah 5:19 |
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Remember me, O my God, for good, according to
all that I have done for this people. |
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