And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. For there were those that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore let us get grain for them, that we may eat, and live. Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy grain, because of the famine. There were also those that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tax, and that upon our lands and vineyards.

Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards. And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. (Nehemiah 5:1-6)