Book of Nehemiah - Ferrar Fenton Bible Translation page 929

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NEHEMIAH. IO XI 12 fear of our GOD, because of the con- tempt of the heathen, our enemies? And even if I, my brothers, and attendants have lent them money and corn on interest!—·-we will now abandon that interest.—I beg of you to return to them to·day their farms and vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, and also the one per cent.! on the money, and of the corn, and wine, and of the oil that you lend to them. We will restore,

and will no more demand it from them. Thus we shall do as you Then I called the Priests, and

swore them to do according to that declaration. I afterwards shook out my lap and

May GoD shake out like that every person from His House and property who does not adhere to this declaration l--May he be shaken out like that and dissipated! So be

it,’* and thanked the LGRD. And the People acted in accordance with the declaration. grlzlyzzninb Qppuiutzh ®¤l12r¤¤r nf x6 18 311hm. King Arthakshasta,——twelve years, people ;-—-but I did not do so, And further, from the day I was

appointed to be Governor of the country of ]udea—···from the twentieth year to the thirty·second year of neither I, nor my relatives, have taken the salary of the Governor, while the former Governors who were before me burdened the people, and exacted from them bread and wine, along with forty shekels of silver. Their Attendants also lorded over the because of the fear of GOD. I also persisted in work upon the wall, and bought no estate, and all my atten- dants collected there at the `work. And of the judeans and officers there were a hundred and fifty persons at my table, beside the guests who visited us from the surrounding nations. What was prepared daily was an ox, six fat sheep, and fowls, for me ; and every ten days a sumcient _One per cent. on

This no doubt means one per cent. per month, which down to our day is the legal rate of interest in Syria and India for loans from the village ban ers.·-·F. F. quantity of various wines; and yet I never demanded the Governor’s Pro- visions, for that slavery was heavy upon the people.—·Remember me, my Gon, for all the good that I have done to this People. Saxtlmllai Gbrzaizia £zl;2mi¤ly. When, however, it was reported

to Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Ghes· hem, the Arabian, and to the others of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and no breach was left in it, except that at the time the doors were not Exed in the Gates, Sau- ballat, and Gheshem with him, sent Come and let us see each other in a village on the But they intended to do me an injury. I consequently sent a messenger to them to reply; ‘ I am doing a great work, and cannot come down. Why should the work cease by my absence, and going They, however, sent me a similar

message four times, and I returned to them the same answer. Then Sanballat sent his servant to me a fifth time, and an open letter in his hand in which was written; Sanhullufs letter. ‘It is reported amongst the peo-

ples,-—and Gheshem says it,~—·-that you and the judeans are preparing to rebel ;—consequently you are building the wall, and that you hope to be their king, according to these reports. And that you have set Preachers to proclaim about you in jerusalem; to call you King of judea. But now the King has heard these reports. So now come, and wewill consult togetherf £.zl;ziuialy’¤ imma. But I sent to him to say; None of those things that you

assert have been done, but you con- trive them out of your own heart; for all of them are to terrify us; but you have not succeeded; you only strengthen my hands. I then went to the house of

Shemaiah·ben·Daliah·ben·Mahitabel Let us meet at the House of GOD,—at the inner Temple,·-·—and close the doors of the Temple, for they will come by night to murder you I 000 I0