Nehemiah 5
1 [Later, ] many of the men and their wives protested loudly about what [some of] the [other] Jews were doing.
In kutu pacl tok pus na sin mwet uh, mukul ac mutan, mutawauk in torkaskas lain mwet Jew wialos.
2 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.”
Kutu selos fahk mu, “Arulana yohk sou lasr uh. Kut enenu wheat kut in mongo kac tuh kut in moul.”
3 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).”
Kutu pac selos fahk mu, “Kut kitala ima lasr, nien grape lasr, ac lohm sesr in eis wheat fal nu sesr tuh kut in tia misa ke masrinsral.”
4 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.
Oasr pac kutu selos fahk, “Kut enenu in ngusr mani in akfalye tax lasr nu sin tokosra ke ima lasr ac nien grape lasr.
5 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].”
Kut oana mwet Jew wiasr, srah sefanna. Tulik natusr uh oapana tulik natulos. A inge, kut oru tuh tulik natusr uh in mwet kohs. Kutu sin acn natusr uh kukakinyukla tari nu ke mwet kohs. A wangin ma kut ku in oru mweyen ima lasr ac nien grape lasr itukla liki kut.”
6 I was very angry when I heard these things that they were complaining about.
Ke nga lohng torkaskas lalos, nga kasrkusrak,
7 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,
ac nunkauk ma nga in oru kac. Na nga sang kas in kai nu sin mwet kol ac mwet pwapa lun mwet uh ac fahk, “Kowos akkeokye mwet wiowos sifacna ke kowos eis ma laesla yohk liki ma fal.” Nga pangon sie tukeni lulap nu sin mwet uh, in pwapa ke elya se inge.
8 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].
Na nga fahk, “Ke kuiyasr nufon kut tuh molela mwet Jew wiasr su tuh sifacna kukakunulosla nu sin mwetsac. A inge kowos oru tuh mwet na wiowos in kukakunulosla sifacna nu suwos, mwet Jew.” Ouinge wanginna ma mwet kol elos ku in fahk, na elos tia kas.
9 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.
Na nga fahk, “Ma kowos oru an tia wo! Kowos enenu in akos God ac oru ma suwohs. Fin ouinge, kowos fah tia oru kutena sripa tuh mwet lokoalok lasr, mwet pegan, in ku in akkolukye kut.
10 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.
Nga lela nu sin mwet uh elos in ngusr mani ac mwe mongo sik, na mwet wiyu ac mwet orekma luk elos oru oana nga oru. Inge lela kut nukewa in sisla eisyen ma laesla selos.
11 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!”
Sisla soemoul nukewa lalos nu suwos: finne mani, ku wheat, ku wain, ku oil in olive. Mesinge kowos in folokonang nu selos ima lalos, nien grape lalos, insak olive, ac lohm selos!”
12 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.
Mwet kol elos topuk, “Kut ac oru oana ma kom fahk. Kut ac folokonang ma lalos, ac kut ac tia eis soemoul lalos.” Nga pangoneni mwet tol, ac sap tuh mwet kol in oru fulahk lalos ye mutalos tuh elos fah oru oana ma elos wulela kac inge.
13 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.
Na nga sarukla mwe lohl liki infulwuk, ac osrokla ac fahk, “God El fah osrokla kutena suwos su ac tia karingin wulela la, oana ma kowos liye nga oru inge. God El fah eisla lohm suwos ac ma lowos nukewa, ac tia filiya kutena ma nu suwos.” Mwet nukewa su wi tukeni sac fahk, “Amen!” ac kaksakin LEUM GOD. Ac mwet kol elos karinganangna wuleang lalos.
14 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.
In yac singoul luo ke nga governor lun acn Judah, mutawauk ke yac aklongoul nwe ke yac se aktolngoul luo ma Artaxerxes el tokosra fulat, nga ac sou luk tiana eis kitakat ke mwe mongo su fal nu sin sie governor in eis.
15 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.
Governor nukewa meet likiyu, elos sang sap toasr nu sin mwet uh tuh elos in akfalye ipin silver angngaul ke len se, nu ke mwe mongo ac wain. Finne mwet kulansap lun governor, elos oayapa oru upa nu sin mwet uh. Tusruktu nga oru siena, mweyen nga akfulatye God.
16 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.
Nga sang kuiyuk nufon in sifil musai pot uh, ac tia suk in eis kutena acn nu sik sifacna. Mwet kulansap luk nukewa elos wi pac orekma ke musa uh.
17 Also, every day I was responsible to feed 150 Jewish officials, and also [official] visitors who came from nearby countries.
Len nukewa mwet Jew siofok lumngaul wi mwet kol lalos elos mongo ke tepu luk, sayen pacna mwet su tuku liki mutunfacl ma apinkutla.
18 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.
Kais sie len nga srukak cow soko, sheep na wowo onkosr, ac won na pus, ac len singoul nukewa nga srukak pac wain sasu nimen mwet uh. Tuh ke sripen nga etu lah toasr ma mwet uh enenu in akfalye, oru nga tiana suk ke ma fal nga in eis ke wal lun governor.
19 My God, do not forget me, and reward me because of all that I have done for these people.
Nga siyuk sum, O God, tuh kom in esamyu ac akinsewowoyeyu ke ma nukewa ma nga oru nu sin mwet inge.
