Nehemiah 4

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the {city} wall, he became furious, and he mocked the Jews.

He spoke to the {other provincial} officials and army officers. He said, “These weak Jews will not be able to accomplish anything! They will never restore {the city! Their God} will not help them. They do not realize what a long time it would take to repair {that wall. The only way} they can get stones {is} by pulling them out of rubbish heaps. And {the Babylonians} burned {the city, so those} stones are probably weak {anyway}.”

Tobiah the Ammonite was standing beside Sanballat. He made fun of the Jews by saying, “Right! The wall that they are building {is so weak} that if a fox walked across the top {of it}, it would fall down!” \*

{When I heard about what they were saying, I prayed to God and said,} “O our God, listen {to the way} they are mocking us! Make {them fail in their attempts to stop us,} so that {other} people will mock them! Allow their enemies to capture them and force them to go to a foreign land!

{They are guilty, and they have sinned against you.} Do not take away their guilt, and do not ignore their sin! {I am asking this} because they are also causing others to be angry at the people who are rebuilding the wall!”

But we kept building the wall, {and after some time,} we finished the wall around the whole city to about half the necessary height. Everyone was determined to accomplish this. \*

But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the men from {the land of} Arabia, the men from {the nation of} Ammon, and the men from {the city of} Ashdod heard that we were continuing to repair the wall of Jerusalem and to fill in the gaps, they became furious.

All of them together made a plan to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem. They wanted to make the people inside the city confused {and divided}.

But we prayed to our God {to protect us}, and we stationed lookouts {on the walls} at all times to watch out for them. \*

Then the people of Judah started saying, “The people who are carrying {the stones} are getting worn out. There is too much rubbish. We are not going to be able to {finish} rebuilding the wall.”

Then our enemies {started} saying, “Before {the Jews} know we are coming, we will rush {down} on them and kill them and stop their work {on the wall}!”

And when some of the Jews who lived near {our enemies} came {to Jerusalem}, they pleaded with us repeatedly, “Let {our men} return {home so} they {can defend} us!” \*

But I put {guards} behind the wall at the places where it was low or where there were gaps. I also had people from each family group stand {guard} with their swords, spears, and bows and arrows.

After I had inspected {everything}, I summoned the leading citizens and the city officials and many of the other people, and I said to them, “Do not be afraid of our enemies! The Lord is great and awesome, {so} think about {what he can do}. And fight to {protect} your families, your sons and daughters, your wives, and your homes!” \*

When our enemies learned that we had found out about {their plan}, they realized that God had kept them {from launching a surprise attack}. {They decided not to attack us.} So we all went back to {working on} the wall. Each person continued doing {the same} work {as before}.

But after that, {only} half of my servants worked {on the wall}. The other half of them {stood guard} armed with spears, shields, bows and arrows, and metal armor. Officers {stood} behind the workers and guards {to encourage everyone and to give orders in case there was an attack}. \*

Those who were building the wall and those who carried the heavy loads {always} had their weapons with them {so that they would be prepared to fight off an attack}.

Each builder worked with his sword strapped to his side. {I stationed} someone next to me who would blow a ram’s horn {if we needed a signal}. \*

Then I said to the leading citizens, the city officials, and many of the other people, “We are working over a very wide area, and we are far apart from each other along the wall.

But wherever you hear {the man} sounding the ram’s horn, gather around us at that place. Our God will fight for us!” \*

So we continued to work {on rebuilding the wall}. Half of the men {served as guards} and kept their weapons ready at {all} times.

At that time, I also said to the people, “Each {worker} and his servant must spend the night inside Jerusalem {and not go home if they live outside the city}. {That way} the city will have plenty of defenders {even} at night, and they can {still} work {on the wall} during the daytime.”

{During that time} none of us took off our clothes. I did not, and my brothers, my servants, and my personal bodyguard did not. Each of us {always had} our weapons {with us}, {even when we were washing ourselves}. \*