So they said, “We will restore it, and will require nothing from them; we will do as you say.” Then I called the priests, and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then they said, “We will restore them, and will require nothing of them. We will do so, even as you say.” Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they would do according to this promise.
- KJV Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.
- BSB “We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised.
- NASB Then they said, “We will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say.” So I called the priests and made them take an oath to act in accordance with this promise.
- NLT They replied, “We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the nobles and officials swear to do what they had promised.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The nobles agree to restore everything and demand nothing more, and Nehemiah binds them by oath before the priests. The reform is sealed with solemn accountability.
Overview
The leaders' repentance is genuine, met with full agreement to make restitution. Nehemiah secures the commitment with a priestly oath, ensuring the promise will be kept. This combination of heartfelt agreement and formal accountability shows wisdom in establishing lasting righteousness rather than fleeting good intentions.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ezra 10:5Then Ezra arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.
- Jer 34:8–10The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;
- 2 Chr 28:14–15So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the princes and all the assembly.
- 2 Chr 6:22–23“If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house;
- Neh 10:29they joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of Yahweh our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;
- 2 Kgs 23:2–3The king went up to Yahweh’s house, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, with the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in Yahweh’s house.
- Ezra 10:12Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “As you have said concerning us, so must we do.
- Neh 13:25I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves.
- Matt 19:21–22Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
- Neh 10:31and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and that we would forego the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.
- Luke 19:8Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.”
- 2 Chr 15:13–14and that whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
- Matt 26:63But Jesus held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 5:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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