Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honours him. (Proverbs 14:31). In our series on Ezra-Nehemiah we have reached a point in the narrative (in Nehemiah ch5) where the conflict that has come from opposition to the rebuilding of the walls, and the work of rebuilding itself, takes a back seat and a new problem emerges – the problem of hunger and exploitation.