Neemia 5

1 OR vi fu un gran grido del popolo, e delle lor mogli, contro a' Giudei lor fratelli.

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

2 E vi erano di quelli che dicevano: I nostri figliuoli, e le nostre figliuole, [e] noi siamo in gran numero; [facciasi] adunque che riceviamo del grano da mangiare, per vivere.

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 Altri vi erano che dicevano: Noi impegnammo i nostri campi, e le nostre vigne, e le nostre case; [facciasi] adunque che riceviamo del grano in questa carestia.

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 Altri vi erano che dicevano: Noi abbiamo presi in prestanza, sopra i nostri campi, e sopra le nostre vigne, danari, per [pagare] il tributo del re.

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 Ed ora, [benchè] la nostra carne [sia] come la carne de' nostri fratelli, [e] i nostri figliuoli [sieno] come i lor figliuoli; ecco, noi siamo in sul punto di mettere i nostri figliuoli e le nostre figliuole per servi; e [già] alcune delle nostre figliuole sono in servitù; e noi non abbiamo alcun modo in mano; e i nostri campi e le nostre vigne [sono] in [mano di] altri.

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 E quando io ebbi udito il grido loro e queste parole, io mi crucciai forte.

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

7 Ed avendo preso consiglio fra me stesso, sgridai gli uomini notabili ed i magistrati, e dissi loro: Riscotete voi [così] i debiti, ciascuno dal suo fratello? Ed io adunai contro a loro la gran raunanza.

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 E dissi loro: Noi abbiamo, in quanto è stato in noi, riscattati i nostri fratelli Giudei che erano stati venduti alle genti; e voi vendereste ancora i vostri fratelli; o essi si venderebbero a noi! Allora essi si tacquero, e non sepper che dire.

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 Ed io dissi: Ciò che voi fate non [è] buono; non dovete voi camminar nel timor dell'Iddio nostro, per tema del vituperio delle genti nostre nemiche?

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 Io ancora, e i miei fratelli, e i miei servitori, abbiamo prestati a costoro danari, e grano; deh! rimettiamo loro questo debito.

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 Deh! rendete loro oggi i lor campi, le lor vigne, i loro uliveti, e le lor case; e [rimettete loro] la centesima de' danari, del grano, del vino, e dell'olio, la quale voi riscotete da loro.

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 Ed essi dissero: Noi [la] renderemo [loro], e non domanderemo loro [nulla]; noi faremo così come tu dici. Allora io chiamai i sacerdoti, e li feci giurare che farebbero così.

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 Oltre a ciò, io scossi il grembo della mia vesta, e dissi: Così scuota Iddio dalla sua [propria] casa, e dalle sue facoltà, chiunque non metterà questa parola ad effetto; e così sia scosso e vuoto. E tutta la raunanza disse: Così sia. E lodarono il Signore. E il popolo fece secondo quella parola.

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 Eziandio dal dì che [il re] mi ordinò per esser lor governatore nel paese di Giuda, [cioè], dall'anno ventesimo del re Artaserse, fino all'anno trentaduesimo, [che son] dodici anni, io ed i miei fratelli non mangiammo della provvisione assegnata al governatore.

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 Benchè i precedenti governatori ch'[erano stati] davanti a me, avessero gravato il popolo, e avessero presa [quella] da lui, in pane ed in vino; [e] dipoi in quaranta sicli d'argento; e che anche i lor servitori avessero signoreggiato sopra il popolo; ma io non feci così, per lo timor di Dio.

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 Ed anche io ristorai la parte mia in questo lavoro delle mura, e non acquistammo alcuna possessione; e tutti i miei servitori [erano] quivi adunati per l'opera.

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 Oltre a ciò, cencinquant'uomini de' Giudei e de' magistrati, e quelli che venivano a noi dalle genti ch'[erano] d'intorno a noi, [erano] alla mia tavola.

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

18 Or quello che mi si apparecchiava per giorno [era] un bue [e] sei montoni scelti; mi si apparecchiava ancora dell'uccellame; e di dieci in dieci giorni [queste cose si apparecchiavano] con ogni [sorta di] vini copiosamente; e pure, con [tutto] ciò, io non domandai la provvisione assegnata al governatore; perciocchè quella servitù sarebbe stata grave a questo popolo.

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 Ricordati, o Dio mio, di me in bene, [per] tutto quello che io ho fatto inverso questo popolo.

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