Nehemiah 5
1 Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their countrymen the Jews.
Maka terdengarlah keluhan yang keras dari rakyat dan juga dari pihak para isteri terhadap sesama orang Yahudi.
2 For there were some who said, We, our sons and our daughters, are a great number: let us get grain, so that we may have food for our needs.
Ada yang berteriak: "Anak laki-laki dan anak perempuan kami banyak dan kami harus mendapat gandum, supaya kami dapat makan dan hidup."
3 And there were some who said, We are giving our fields and our vine-gardens and our houses for debt: let us get grain because we are in need.
Dan ada yang berteriak: "Ladang dan kebun anggur dan rumah kami gadaikan untuk mendapat gandum pada waktu kelaparan."
4 And there were others who said, We have given up our fields and our vine-gardens to get money for the king's taxes.
Juga ada yang berteriak: "Kami harus meminjam uang untuk membayar pajak yang dikenakan raja atas ladang dan kebun anggur kami.
5 But our flesh is the same as the flesh of our countrymen, and our children as their children: and now we are giving our sons and daughters into the hands of others, to be their servants, and some of our daughters are servants even now: and we have no power to put a stop to it; for other men have our fields and our vine-gardens.
Sekarang, walaupun kami ini sedarah sedaging dengan saudara-saudara sebangsa kami dan anak-anak kami sama dengan anak-anak mereka, namun kami terpaksa membiarkan anak-anak lelaki dan anak-anak perempuan kami menjadi budak dan sudah beberapa anak perempuan kami harus membiarkan diri dimiliki orang. Kami tidak dapat berbuat apa-apa, karena ladang dan kebun anggur kami sudah di tangan orang lain."
6 And on hearing their outcry and what they said I was very angry.
Maka sangat marahlah aku, ketika kudengar keluhan mereka dan berita-berita itu.
7 And after turning it over in my mind, I made a protest to the chiefs and the rulers, and said to them, Every one of you is taking interest from his countryman. And I got together a great meeting of protest.
Setelah berpikir masak-masak, aku menggugat para pemuka dan para penguasa. Kataku kepada mereka: "Masing-masing kamu telah makan riba dari saudara-saudaramu!" Lalu kuadakan terhadap mereka suatu sidang jemaah yang besar.
8 And I said to them, We have given whatever we were able to give, to make our brothers the Jews free, who were servants and prisoners of the nations: and would you now give up your brothers for a price, and are they to become our property? Then they said nothing, answering not a word.
Berkatalah aku kepada mereka: "Kami selalu berusaha sedapat-dapatnya untuk menebus sesama orang Yahudi yang dijual kepada bangsa-bangsa lain. Tetapi kamu ini justru menjual saudara-saudaramu, supaya mereka dibeli lagi oleh kami!" Mereka berdiam diri karena tidak dapat membantah.
9 And I said, What you are doing is not good: is it not the more necessary for you to go in the fear of our God, because of the shame which the nations may put on us?
Kataku: "Tidaklah patut apa yang kamu lakukan itu! Bukankah kamu harus berlaku dengan takut akan Allah kita untuk menghindarkan diri dari cercaan bangsa-bangsa lain, musuh-musuh kita?
10 Even I and my servants have been taking interest for the money and the grain we have let them have. So now, let us give up this thing.
Juga aku dan saudara-saudaraku dan anak buahku telah membungakan uang dan gandum pada mereka. Biarlah kita hapuskan hutang mereka itu!
11 Give back to them this very day their fields, their vine-gardens, their olive-gardens, and their houses, as well as a hundredth part of the money and the grain and the wine and the oil which you have taken from them.
Biarlah kamu kembalikan kepada mereka hari ini juga ladang mereka, kebun anggur, kebun zaitun dan rumah mereka, pula hapuskanlah hutang mereka, yakni uang serta gandum, anggur dan minyak yang kamu tagih dari pada mereka!"
12 Then they said, We will give them back, and take nothing for them; we will do as you say. Then I sent for the priests and made them take an oath that they would keep this agreement.
Berkatalah mereka: "Itu akan kami kembalikan! Dan kami tidak akan menuntut apa-apa dari mereka. Kami akan lakukan tepat seperti yang engkau perintahkan!" Lalu aku memanggil para imam dan menyuruh mereka bersumpah, bahwa mereka akan menepati janji mereka.
13 And shaking out the folds of my robe, I said, So may God send out from his house and his work every man who does not keep this agreement; even so let him be sent out and made as nothing. And all the meeting of the people said, So be it, and gave praise to the Lord. And the people did as they had said.
Juga kukebas lipatan bajuku sambil berkata: "Demikianlah setiap orang yang tidak menepati janji ini akan dikebas Allah dari rumahnya dan hasil jerih payahnya. Demikianlah ia dikebas dan menjadi hampa!" Dan seluruh jemaah berkata: "Amin," lalu memuji-muji TUHAN. Maka rakyat berbuat sesuai dengan janji itu.
14 Now from the time when I was made ruler of the people in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year till the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, for twelve years, I and my servants have never taken the food which was the right of the ruler.
Pula sejak aku diangkat sebagai bupati di tanah Yehuda, yakni dari tahun kedua puluh sampai tahun ketiga puluh dua pemerintahan Artahsasta jadi dua belas tahun lamanya, aku dan saudara-saudaraku tidak pernah mengambil pembagian yang menjadi hak bupati.
15 But earlier rulers who were before me made the people responsible for their upkeep, and took from them bread and wine at the rate of forty shekels of silver; and even their servants were lords over the people: but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.
Tetapi para bupati yang sebelumnya, yang mendahului aku, sangat memberatkan beban rakyat. Bupati-bupati itu mengambil dari mereka empat puluh syikal perak sehari untuk bahan makanan dan anggur. Bahkan anak buah mereka merajalela atas rakyat. Tetapi aku tidak berbuat demikian karena takut akan Allah.
16 And I kept on with the work of this wall, and we got no land for ourselves: and all my servants were helping with the work.
Akupun memulai pekerjaan tembok itu, walaupun aku tidak memperoleh ladang. Dan semua anak buahku dikumpulkan di sana khusus untuk pekerjaan itu.
17 And more than this, a hundred and fifty of the Jews and the rulers were guests at my table, in addition to those who came to us from the nations round about us.
Duduk pada mejaku orang-orang Yahudi dan para penguasa, seratus lima puluh orang, selain mereka yang datang kepada kami dari bangsa-bangsa sekeliling kami.
18 Now the food made ready for one day was one ox and six fat sheep, as well as fowls; and once in ten days a store of all sorts of wine: but all the same, I did not take the food to which the ruler had a right, because the people were crushed under a hard yoke.
Yang disediakan sehari atas tanggunganku ialah: seekor lembu, enam ekor kambing domba yang terpilih dan beberapa ekor unggas, dan bermacam-macam anggur dengan berlimpah-limpah setiap sepuluh hari. Namun, dengan semuanya itu, aku tidak menuntut pembagian yang menjadi hak bupati, karena pekerjaan itu sangat menekan rakyat.
19 Keep in mind, O my God, for my good, all I have done for this people.
Ya Allahku, demi kesejahteraanku, ingatlah segala yang kubuat untuk bangsa ini.
