12 They replied, "We’ll return everything, and we won’t charge anything else. We’ll do what you’ve asked."So I called the priests and made them swear to do what they had promised.
13 I also shook out the fold of my robe, saying, "So may God shake out everyone from their house and property if they don’t keep this promise. So may they be shaken out and emptied!"The whole assembly said, "Amen," and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.
14 In addition, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah (that is, from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes for a total of twelve years), neither I nor my family ate from the governor’s food allowance.
15 The earlier governors who had come before me laid heavy burdens on the people. They took food and wine from them as well as forty shekels of silver. Even their servants oppressed the people. But because I was God-fearing, I didn’t behave in this way.
16 Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. We acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.
17 One hundred fifty Jews and officials, along with those who came to us from the surrounding nations, gathered around my table.
18 One ox, six choice sheep, and birds were prepared each day. Every ten days there was a large amount of wine. Yet even with this I didn’t ask for the governor’s food allowance because of the heavy burden the people had to carry.