1 The men and their wives complained loudly against their fellow Jews.
2 Some of them were saying, “We have many sons and daughters in our families. To eat and stay alive, we need grain.”
3 Others were saying, “We are borrowing money against our fields, vineyards, and homes to get grain because there is not much food.”
4 And still others were saying, “We are borrowing money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.