Nehemiah 5
1 Te vaengah pilnam neh a yuu rhoek tah a manuca Judah taengah pangngawlnah muep om.
[Later, ] many of the men and their wives protested loudly about what [some of] the [other] Jews were doing.
2 Te vaengah, “Ka capa neh ka canu neh ka ping dongah cangpai ka dang uh daengah ni ka caak uh vetih ka hing uh eh,” aka ti om.
Some/One of them said, “We have many children. So we need a lot of grain to be able to eat and continue to live.”
3 “Ka khohmuen, ka misurdum neh ka im khaw ka hol mai vetih khokha vaengah he cangpai ka phil uh mai mako,” aka ti khaw om.
Others said, “The fields and vineyards and houses that we own, it has been necessary for us to (mortgage them/promise to give them to someone if we do not pay back to him the money he has loaned us) in order to get money to buy grain, during this (famine/time where there is not much food).”
4 “Ka khohmuen neh ka misurdum kah manghai mangmu ham te tangka la ka rhong.
Others said, “We have [needed to] borrow money to pay the taxes that the king [commanded us to pay] on our fields and our vineyards.
5 Mah manuca kah pumsa khaw mamih kah pumsa banghui coeng ni. Amih ca rhoek khaw mah ca rhoek banghui ni. Te cakhaw mamih loh mah ca tongpa neh mah ca huta rhoek te sal la ka khoh sak aya? Kaimih canu lakah khaw a khoh rhoek om coeng. Tedae mamih kah khohmuen neh mamih kah misurdum a tloe taengla om coeng tih mamih kut he Pathen pum dongah a om moenih,” a ti uh.
We are Jews just like [IDM] they are. Our children are ([just as good as/equal with)] their children. But we have needed to sell some of our children to become slaves [in order to pay what we owe]. We have already sold some of our daughters to become slaves. Our fields and vineyards have been taken away from us, so now we do not have [the money to pay what we owe, and we are forced to sell our children to get money to pay those debts].”
6 Amih kah a pang neh ol he ka yaak vaengah kai taengah muep sai coeng.
I was very angry when I heard these things that they were complaining about.
7 Tedae ka khuikah ka lungbuei tah a manghai van dongah hlangcoelh rhoek neh ukkung rhoek te ka toel. Te vaengah amih te, “A manuca taengkah a casai aka ca hlang nang loh lai na ba,” ka ti nah tih amih te vangpum duel ka khue thil.
So I thought about what I could do about it. I told the leaders and officials [who were responsible for this work], “You are charging interest to your own relatives [when they borrow money from you]!” Then I called together a large group of people,
8 Te phoeiah amih te, “Namtom taengla a yoih mah manuca Judah rhoek te mah taengah a coengnah bangla mamih loh n'lai coeng. Tedae na manuca te na yoi uh ngawn cakhaw mamih taengla han yoih uh dongah ngam uh tih ol om voel pawh.
and I said to their [leaders], “Some of our Jewish relatives have been forced to sell themselves to become slaves of people who have come from other countries. As much as we have been able to, we have been buying them back [out of slavery]. But now you are forcing your own relatives to sell themselves to you, their fellow Jews, as slaves!” [When I said that to them, ] they were silent. There was nothing that they could say [because they knew that what I said was true].
9 Ka thui cakhaw ol then na vai uh pawt dongah ni ka thui. Mamih kah thunkha namtom kah kokhahnah dong mai ah mamih kah Pathen hinyahnah neh na pongpa uh pawh nama?
Then I said to them, “What you are doing is terrible [EUP]! You certainly ought to [RHQ] obey God and do what is right! If you did that, our enemies who do not revere Yahweh [would see that we are doing what is right and] would not ridicule us.
10 Kamah khaw, ka manuca rhoek neh ka ca rhoek khaw, amih taengah tangka neh cangpai aka hlah rhoek loh a casai he tah hnoo uh pawn sih.
My fellow Jews and I and my servants have lent money and grain to people [without charging interest]. So you all should stop charging interest on these loans.
11 A khohmuen neh a misurdum khaw, olive khaw, a im khaw, amih taengkah casai na caak te tangka yakhat khaw, cangpai misur thai neh situi khaw tihnin kah bangla amih taengah mael uh laeh,” ka ti nah.
Also, you must give back to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive tree orchards, and their houses that you have taken from them. You must also give back to them the interest that you charged them when they borrowed money, grain, wine, and [olive] oil from you, and you must do it today!”
12 Te daengah, “Ka mael uh vetih amih taengah ka suk uh voel mahpawh. Na thui bangla ka vai uh tangloeng bitni,” a ti uh. Te phoeiah khosoih rhoek te ka khue tih he ol bangla saii ham amih te ka toemngam sak.
The leaders replied, “We will do what you have said. We will return to them everything that we forced them to give to us, and we will not require that they give us anything more.” Then I summoned the priests, and I forced the leaders to vow in front of them that they would do what they had promised to do.
13 Ka poehla te ka khong tih, “He ol he aka pai puei pawt hlang boeih te tah Pathen loh he tlam he khong saeh. A im lamkah neh a thaphu lamlong khaw khong saeh lamtah a hong la om van saeh,” ka ti. Te vaengah hlangping boeih loh, “Amen, BOEIPA te thangthen uh pai saeh, pilnam khaw he ol bangla a saii,” a ti uh.
I shook out the folds of my robe and said to them, “If you do not do what you have just now promised to do, I hope/desire that God will shake you like I am shaking my robe. He will take away your homes and everything else that you own.” They all replied, “Amen/May it be so!” And they praised Yahweh. Then they did what they had promised to do.
14 Te pataeng kai he Judah khohmuen ah amih kah rhalboei la om ham n'uen khohnin lamkah te, manghai Artaxerxes kah kum kul lamloh sawmthum kum nit hil, kum hlai nit ka om coeng dae ka manuca rhoek kah rhalboei buh khaw ka caak moenih.
I was appointed to be the governor of Judea in the twentieth year that Artaxerxes was the king [of Persia]. For the next twelve years, until he had been ruling for almost 32 years, neither I nor my officials accepted [the money that we were allowed/entitled to receive to buy] food because of my being the governor.
15 Tedae rhalboei lamhma rhoek loh ka mikhmuh ah pilnam te a nan tih amih taengkah buh neh misurtui khaw, tangka shekel sawmli khaw a loh uh. A ca rhoek te pilnam soah a taemrhai sak. Tedae kai tah Pathen kah hinyahnah hmai ah, te tlam te ka saii moenih.
The men who were governors before I became the governor had burdened the people by requiring them to pay a lot of taxes. They had forced each person to pay to them 40 silver coins every day, in addition to giving food and wine to them. Even their servants/officials oppressed the people. But I did not do that, because I revered God.
16 Te phoeiah vongtung kah bitat ham rhaitat he tah thaa ka huel tih khohmuen ka lai uh moenih. Ka taengkah camoe boeih khaw bitat ham pahoi ka coi.
I also continued to work on the wall, and I did not take land from people [who were unable to pay back the money that they had borrowed from me]. All those who worked for me joined me to work on the wall.
17 Te vaengah Judah neh ukkung rhoek te hlang ya sawmnga neh namtom lamkah kaimih taengla aka pawk te ka caboei ah kaimih m'vael uh.
Also, every day I was responsible to feed 150 Jewish officials, and also [official] visitors who came from nearby countries.
18 Kai ham te hnin at ham he vaito pummat a ngawn tih, boiva pumrhuk a coelh, vaa a tawn a khaw, hnin rha khuiah misurtui cungkuem neh ka kum ham akhaw rhalboei buh he ka hoem moenih, he tah pilnam soah thohtatnah la aka nan rhung ni.
Each day I [told my servants to] serve [us the meat from] one ox, six very good sheep, and chickens. And every ten days I gave them a large new supply of wine. But I knew that the people were burdened [by paying lots of taxes], so I did not accept [the money that I was entitled/allowed to receive to buy all this] food because of my being the governor.
19 Ka Pathen aw he pilnam ham hnothen la boeih ka saii he kai ham khaw poek van lah.
My God, do not forget me, and reward me because of all that I have done for these people.
