Single lesson
Nehemiah Helps the Poor
Nehemiah 5:1–19
When struggling families cried out, Nehemiah challenged the leaders and urged them to give back what they had taken.
Before you teach
A great outcry rose from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. Some families said they needed grain so they could eat and stay alive. Others had mortgaged their fields, vineyards, and houses because of the famine. Some had borrowed money for the king’s tax, using their land as security. The people said they were the same flesh and blood as their fellow Jews, yet their sons and daughters were being brought into bondage as servants. Some daughters were already in that condition. They could not change it,…
Explain the central teaching of Nehemiah Helps the Poor, using two details from the reading. When struggling families cried out, Nehemiah challenged the leaders and urged them to give back what they had taken.
Welcome: Nehemiah Helps the Poor
5 minIntroduce “Nehemiah Helps the Poor” and locate Nehemiah 5:1–19. When struggling families cried out, Nehemiah challenged the leaders and urged them to give back what they had taken. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Nehemiah 5:1, Nehemiah 5:10, Nehemiah 5:19
Read and explain the passage
12 minA great outcry rose from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. Some families said they needed grain so they could eat and stay alive. Others had mortgaged their fields, vineyards, and houses because of the famine. Some had borrowed money for the king’s tax, using their land as security.
Nehemiah said their actions were not good and that they should walk in the fear of God. He asked them to stop charging interest and to restore that very day the people’s fields, vineyards, olive groves, houses, and the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine, and oil. The leaders agreed to restore everything and require nothing more. Nehemiah called the priests and made them swear to keep this promise.
He kept working on the wall, bought no land, and fed many at his table, because the people’s burden was already heavy. He asked God to remember the good he had done for them.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Nehemiah Helps the Poor”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Nehemiah 5:4, Nehemiah 5:3, Nehemiah 5:1, Nehemiah 5:11, Nehemiah 5:12, Nehemiah 5:9, Nehemiah 5:19, Nehemiah 5:16
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with ““The people said they were the same flesh and blood as their fellow Jews, yet their sons and daughters were being brought into bondage as servants.” Which details explain how the account reaches this point?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. When struggling families cried out, Nehemiah challenged the leaders and urged them to give back what they had taken. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Nehemiah 5:5, Nehemiah 5:6, Nehemiah 5:18, Nehemiah 5:11, Nehemiah 5:12, Nehemiah 5:9, Nehemiah 5:19, Nehemiah 5:16
Make and respond: Choices and outcomes evidence map
12 minWork on “Nehemiah Helps the Poor: Choices and outcomes evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Nehemiah Helps the Poor” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Nehemiah 5:1, Nehemiah 5:10, Nehemiah 5:19
Closing: return to Nehemiah Helps the Poor
3 minRevisit Nehemiah 5:1–19. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Nehemiah Helps the Poor and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Nehemiah 5:1, Nehemiah 5:10, Nehemiah 5:19
Questions to explore
“The people said they were the same flesh and blood as their fellow Jews, yet their sons and daughters were being brought into bondage as servants.” Which details explain how the account reaches this point?
The people said they were the same flesh and blood as their fellow Jews, yet their sons and daughters were being brought into bondage as servants. Some daughters were already in that condition. They could not change it, because other people now held their fields and vineyards. When Nehemiah heard their cry, he was very angry.
Nehemiah 5:5, Nehemiah 5:6, Nehemiah 5:18
How does this moment affect the rest of the account: “Nehemiah said their actions were not good and that they should walk in the fear of God.”?
Nehemiah said their actions were not good and that they should walk in the fear of God. He asked them to stop charging interest and to restore that very day the people’s fields, vineyards, olive groves, houses, and the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine, and oil. The leaders agreed to restore everything and require nothing more. Nehemiah called the priests and made…
Nehemiah 5:11, Nehemiah 5:12, Nehemiah 5:9
“He kept working on the wall, bought no land, and fed many at his table, because the people’s burden was already heavy.” How does this ending connect with the beginning?
He kept working on the wall, bought no land, and fed many at his table, because the people’s burden was already heavy. He asked God to remember the good he had done for them.
Nehemiah 5:19, Nehemiah 5:9, Nehemiah 5:16
Make, think or respond
Nehemiah Helps the Poor: Choices and outcomes evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “Words or actions”, “What happens next”, “Verse reference”.
- Read Nehemiah 5:1–19. Use “Nehemiah Helps the Poor” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Compare two actions or statements in the account and explain their different outcomes.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Nehemiah Helps the Poor connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “Nehemiah Helps the Poor” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Nehemiah 5:1–19. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Nehemiah 5:1–19. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Nehemiah 5
1 Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews.
2 For there were some who said, “We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live.”
3 There were also some who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain, because of the famine.”
4 There were also some who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral.
5 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage to be servants, and some of our daughters have been brought into bondage. It is also not in our power to help it, because other men have our fields and our vineyards.”
6 I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
7 Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, “You exact usury, everyone of his brother.” I held a great assembly against them.
8 I said to them, “We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?” Then they held their peace, and found not a word to say.
9 Also I said, “The thing that you do is not good. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?
10 I likewise, my brothers and my servants, lend them money and grain. Please let us stop this usury.
11 Please restore to them, even today, their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that you are charging them.”
12 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.
13 Also I shook out my lap, and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that doesn’t perform this promise; even may he be shaken out and emptied like this.” All the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised Yahweh. The people did according to this promise.
14 Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brothers have not eaten the bread of the governor.
15 But the former governors who were before me were supported by the people, and took bread and wine from them, plus forty shekels of silver; yes, even their servants ruled over the people, but I didn’t do so, because of the fear of God.
16 Yes, I also continued in the work of this wall. We didn’t buy any land. All my servants were gathered there to the work.
17 Moreover there were at my table, of the Jews and the rulers, one hundred fifty men, in addition to those who came to us from among the nations that were around us.
18 Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep. Also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days a store of all sorts of wine. Yet for all this, I didn’t demand the governor’s pay, because the bondage was heavy on this people.
19 Remember me, my God, for all the good that I have done for this people.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.