But the former governors who preceded me had burdened the people and had taken food and wine from them, in addition to ¹  forty shekels of silver. Their associates were also domineering over the people. But I did not behave in this way, due to my fear of God.

from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, everyone who entered to do the work of service and the work of carrying ¹  relating to the tent of meeting –

He designated ¹  70,000 as common laborers, ²  80,000 as stonecutters ³  in the hills, and 3,600 as supervisors to make sure the people completed the work. ⁴ 

Then those in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers ¹  has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”

In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, bringing in heaps of grain and loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, and bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them on the day that they sold these provisions.

The young men perform menial labor; ¹  boys stagger from their labor. ² 

When he sees ¹  a good resting place, and the pleasant land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and become a slave laborer. ² 

“All the service of the Gershonites, whether ¹  carrying loads ²  or for any of their work, will be at the direction of ³  Aaron and his sons. You will assign them all their tasks ⁴  as their responsibility.

No, this is the kind of fast I want. ¹  I want you ²  to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, ³  and to break every burdensome yoke.

They are immune to the trouble common to men; they do not suffer as other men do. ¹ 

Do not slander ¹  a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you are found guilty. ² 

Throw your burden ¹  upon the Lord, and he will sustain you. ²  He will never allow the godly to be upended. ³ 

Our cattle will be weighted down with produce. ¹  No one will break through our walls, no one will be taken captive, and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares. ² 

The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. ¹  The Lord loves the godly.

“As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals – I took them away from you; they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. ¹ 

He asked them, “How do you advise me ¹  to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ² 

He asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ¹ 

The list of Joash’s ¹  sons, the many prophetic oracles pertaining to him, and the account of his building project on God’s temple are included in the record of the Scroll of the Kings. ²  His son Amaziah replaced him as king.

supervised the laborers and all the foremen on their various jobs. ¹  Some of the Levites were scribes, officials, and guards.

For their oppressive yoke and the club that strikes their shoulders, the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, ¹  you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. ²