I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the one I was riding.

Some were saying, “We, our sons, and our daughters are numerous. Let us get grain so that we can eat and live.”

Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, vineyards, and homes to get grain during the famine.”

He was hired, so that I would be intimidated, do as he suggested, sin, and get a bad reputation, in order that they could discredit me.