Nehemia 5

1 Maar er ontstond een ernstige klacht van het volk en hun vrouwen tegen de Joden, hun eigen broeders.

[Later, ] many of the men and their wives protested loudly about what [some of] the [other] Jews were doing.

2 Sommigen zeiden: We moeten onze zonen en dochters verpanden, om koren te kopen, te eten en in het leven te blijven.

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 Anderen zeiden: We moeten onze akkers, wijngaarden en huizen verpanden, om koren te kopen tegen de honger.

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 Weer anderen: We hebben op onze akkers en wijngaarden geld opgenomen voor de belasting aan den koning.

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 Maar ons lijf is toch even goed als dat onzer broeders, onze kinderen zijn toch even goed als de hunnen. Toch moeten wij onze zonen en dochters als slaven verkopen, en zijn er al dochters van ons als slavinnen verkocht, zonder dat wij er iets aan kunnen doen; ook onze akkers en wijngaarden zijn in andere handen overgegaan.

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 Toen ik hun klacht en beschuldiging hoorde, werd ik er hevig over ontstemd.

I was very angry when I heard these things that they were complaining about.

7 Na bij mijzelf te hebben overlegd, riep ik de edelen en voormannen ter verantwoording, en sprak tot hen: Gij drijft woeker tegenover uw broeders! Ik belegde een grote vergadering tegen hen,

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 en sprak hun toe: Wij hebben onze joodse broeders, die aan de heidenen waren verkocht, zoveel we konden, vrijgekocht; en nu gaat gij uw eigen broeders verkopen, en worden zij onder ons verkocht! Ze zwegen, en wisten geen antwoord.

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 Ik vervolgde: Het is niet goed, wat gij doet. Moet gij niet leven in de vrees van onzen God, om de smaad der heidenen, onze vijanden, te ontgaan?

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 Ook ikzelf, mijn broers en mijn gevolg, hebben geld en koren aan hen geleend; maar wij zien af van die schuld.

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 Geeft ook gij hun nog heden hun akkers, wijngaarden, olijfbomen en huizen terug, met wat gij aan geld of koren, aan most of olie van hen hebt te vorderen.

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 Ze gaven ten antwoord: We geven het terug, en zullen niets van hen vorderen; we zullen doen, wat ge zegt. Nu riep ik de priesters, en liet ze zweren, dat ze zó zouden doen.

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 Daarbij schudde ik mijn mantel uit, en sprak: Zo moge God iedereen uit zijn huis en have schudden, die dit woord niet gestand doet; zo moge hij worden uitgeschud en berooid! De hele vergadering antwoordde: Amen! Het volk loofde God, en deed naar dit woord.

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 Ook heb ik sinds de dag, dat koning Artaxerxes mij tot stadhouder over het land van Juda heeft aangesteld, van het twintigste tot het twee en dertigste jaar van den koning, dus twaalf jaar lang, met mijn broers niet het onderhoud van een stadhouder willen trekken.

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 En terwijl de vroegere stadhouders, die mij vooraf waren gegaan, het volk ten laste waren geweest, en veertig zilveren sikkels per dag van hen hadden geëist voor brood en wijn, en hun gevolg bovendien het volk had verdrukt, heb ik voor mij zó niet gehandeld, omdat ik God vreesde.

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 Ook heb ik mijn steun verleend aan de bouw van de muur, en geen stuk grond voor mijzelf genomen, ofschoon toch heel mijn gevolg bij het werk was betrokken.

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 Steeds had ik honderd vijftig man van de Joden en voormannen aan tafel, behalve nog hen, die van de omliggende volken tot ons kwamen.

Also, every day I was responsible to feed 150 Jewish officials, and also [official] visitors who came from nearby countries.

18 Wat iedere dag werd toebereid: een rund, zes van de beste schapen en het gevogelte: kwam op mijn kosten; bovendien om de tien dagen nog vele zakken met wijn. Toch heb ik niet het onderhoud van een stadhouder willen eisen, omdat die verplichting te zwaar op het volk zou drukken.

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 Mijn God, reken mij ten goede, wat ik voor het volk heb gedaan!

My God, do not forget me, and reward me because of all that I have done for these people.