Nehemiah 5:7-9

Complete Jewish Bible

⁷ I thought the matter over and then took issue with the nobles and rulers. I charged them, “You are lending against pledges, everyone to his brother”; and I summoned a great assembly to deal with them. ⁸ I said to them, “We, to the limit of our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Judeans who sold themselves to the pagans. Now you are selling your own brothers, and we will have to buy them back!” They stayed silent; they couldn’t think of anything to say. ⁹ I also said, “What you are doing is not good! You should be living in fear of our God, so that our pagan enemies won’t have grounds for deriding us.