Nehemiah 5:13
Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.
The verse belongs to the time when the wall of Jerusalem was still unfinished and Nehemiah confronted the oppression of the poor by their own brethren. The poorer Jews were suffering scarcity of grain because tillage had been neglected in the unsettled country and because blessing was not resting on the land on account of the selfish conduct of some who had returned. To get food they had to buy on credit at exorbitant prices and borrow on interest to pay the heavy taxes imposed by the kings of Persia, while the wealthier Jews took advantage of their necessities to enrich themselves.
In contrast with rulers who were enslaving their brethren for worldly gain, Nehemiah had ransomed Jews sold to the heathen, and though invested with authority from the Persian king he had not taken even what justly belonged to him but had given liberally to relieve the poor. He called the guilty rulers to walk in the fear of God because of the reproach of the heathen enemies, to cease extortion, to restore the poor people's lands and return the money, provisions and increase exacted from them without demanding anything in return, and to lend without security or usury. The people's promise meant stopping enrichment at the expense of poor brethren by keeping the commands given through Moses for their relief: to raise a tithe every third year for their benefit, to suspend agricultural labor every seventh year and leave the spontaneous produce of the fallow land to those in need, and to lend freely and open the hand wide to lend the poor brother sufficient for his need without acting as a usurer and without taking usury on money, food, or anything lent. Faithfulness in these offerings and benevolent uses kept before Israel the truth of God's ownership of all and their opportunity to be channels of blessing, training them to eradicate selfishness and develop breadth and nobility of character.
Spoken in the presence of the whole congregation with opportunity to justify themselves, the rulers offered no excuse but promised to restore and require nothing. Nehemiah bound them by an oath in the presence of the priests as witnesses, the whole congregation assented with Amen and praised the Lord, and the people did according to the promise. The verse is part of the account of Nehemiah defending the poor and oppressed and righting wrongs among the people, in which despite ingratitude and treachery he did not use his authority to punish traitors for his own sake but continued serving the people. It stands as a sacred-history lesson in religious integrity, showing that Nehemiah refused to tolerate even the least oppression and remained true to God and the principles of His law.