Nehemiah 4

¹But it came to pass that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

²And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?

³Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they are building, if a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall.

⁴Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn back their reproach upon their own head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity;

⁵and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee; for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.

⁶So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto half the height thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

⁷But it came to pass that, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth;

⁸and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein.

⁹But we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

¹⁰And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.

¹¹And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come into the midst of them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.

¹²And it came to pass that, when the Jews that dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times from all places, Ye must return unto us.

¹³Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set there the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

¹⁴And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

¹⁵And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.

¹⁶And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

¹⁷They that builded the wall and they that bare burdens laded themselves; every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other held his weapon;

¹⁸and the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.

¹⁹And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another:

²⁰in what place soever ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us; our God will fight for us.

²¹So we wrought in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.

²²Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day.

²³So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard that followed me, none of us put off our clothes, every one went with his weapon to the water.

Nehemiah 4

¹Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews

²before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

³Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

⁴Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.

⁵Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.

⁶So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

⁷When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,

⁸and all of them conspired to come and fight against Jerusalem and create a hindrance.

⁹So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.

¹⁰Meanwhile, the people of Judah said: “The strength of the laborer fails, and there is so much rubble that we will never be able to rebuild the wall.”

¹¹And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”

¹²At that time the Jews who lived nearby came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

¹³So I stationed men behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.

¹⁴After I had made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

¹⁵When our enemies heard that we were aware of their scheme and that God had frustrated it, each of us returned to his own work on the wall.

¹⁶And from that day on, half of my servants did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers stationed themselves behind all the people of Judah

¹⁷who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.

¹⁸And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side. But the trumpeter stayed beside me.

¹⁹Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “The work is great and extensive, and we are spread out far from one another along the wall.

²⁰Wherever you hear the sound of the horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us!”

²¹So we continued the work, while half of the men held spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.

²²At that time I also said to the people, “Let every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”

²³So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes; each carried his weapon, even to go for water.