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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Nehemiah 5 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/nehemiah/5.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/nehemiah/5-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Nehemiah 5</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../nehemiah/4.htm" title="Nehemiah 4">◄</a> Nehemiah 5 <a href="../nehemiah/6.htm" title="Nehemiah 6">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Nehemiah's Concern for the Poor</h3><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_1"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.1" class="v16_5_1">1</span>Some of the men and their wives complained about the Jews in power </span><span class="v16_5_2"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.2" class="v16_5_2">2</span>and said, “We have large families, and it takes a lot of grain merely to keep us alive.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_3"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.3" class="v16_5_3">3</span>Others said, “During the famine we even had to mortgage our fields, vineyards, and homes to them in order to buy grain.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_4"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.4" class="v16_5_4">4</span>Then others said, “We had to borrow money from those in power to pay the government tax on our fields and vineyards. </span><span class="v16_5_5"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.5" class="v16_5_5">5</span>We are Jews just as they are, and our children are as good as theirs. But we still have to sell our children as slaves, and some of our daughters have already been raped. We are completely helpless; our fields and vineyards have even been taken from us.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_6"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.6" class="v16_5_6">6</span>When I heard their complaints and their charges, I became very angry. </span><span class="v16_5_7"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.7" class="v16_5_7">7</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Neh.5.7!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> So I thought it over and said to the leaders and officials, “How can you charge your own people interest?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_7">Then I called a public meeting and accused the leaders </span><span class="v16_5_8"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.8" class="v16_5_8">8</span>by saying, “We have tried to buy back all of our people who were sold into exile. But here you are, selling more of them for us to buy back!” The officials and leaders did not say a word, because they knew this was true.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_9"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.9" class="v16_5_9">9</span>I continued, “What you have done is wrong! We must honor our God by the way we live, so the Gentiles can't find fault with us. </span><span class="v16_5_10"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.10" class="v16_5_10">10</span>My relatives, my friends, and I are also lending money and grain, but we must no longer demand payment in return. </span><span class="v16_5_11"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.11" class="v16_5_11">11</span>Now give back the fields, vineyards, olive orchards, and houses you have taken and also the interest you have been paid.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_12"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.12" class="v16_5_12">12</span>The leaders answered, “We will do whatever you say and return their property, without asking to be repaid.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_12">So I made the leaders promise in front of the priests to give back the property. </span><span class="v16_5_13"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.13" class="v16_5_13">13</span>Then I emptied my pockets and said, “If you don't keep your promise, that's what God will do to you. He will empty out everything you own, even taking away your houses.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_13">The people answered, “We will keep our promise.” Then they praised the <span class="nd">Lord</span> and did as they had promised.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Nehemiah Is Generous</h3><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_14"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.14" class="v16_5_14">14</span>I was governor of Judah from the twentieth year that Artaxerxes<a href="#fn" id="link_Neh.5.14!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> was king until the thirty-second year. And during these entire twelve years, my relatives and I refused to accept the food that I was allowed. </span><span class="v16_5_15"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.15" class="v16_5_15">15</span>Each governor before me had been a burden to the people by making them pay for his food and wine and by demanding forty silver coins a day. Even their officials had been a burden to the people. But I respected God, and I didn't think it was right to be so hard on them. </span><span class="v16_5_16"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.16" class="v16_5_16">16</span>I spent all my time getting the wall rebuilt and did not buy any property. Everyone working for me did the same thing. </span><span class="v16_5_17"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.17" class="v16_5_17">17</span>I usually fed 150 of our own Jewish people and their leaders, as well as foreign visitors from surrounding lands. </span><span class="v16_5_18"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.18" class="v16_5_18">18</span>Each day one ox, six of the best sheep, and lots of chickens were prepared. Then every ten days, a large supply of wine was brought in. I knew what a heavy burden this would have been for the people, and so I did not ask for my food allowance as governor.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_5_19"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.5.19" class="v16_5_19">19</span>I pray that God will bless me for everything I have done for my people.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.14 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Artaxerxes: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 1.1.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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