Nehemiah 4

1When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews.

2In front of his brothers and the army of Samaria he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Will they bring the stones back to life out of the heaps of rubble, burned as they are?”

3Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox climbed up on it, it would break down their stone wall!”

4Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads, and give them up to be plundered in a land of captivity.

5Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be wiped out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in front of the builders.

6So we rebuilt the wall, and the whole wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a heart to work.

7But when Sanballat and Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry.

8They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to throw it into confusion.

9But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to protect ourselves from them.

10Meanwhile Judah said, “The strength of those who carry the loads is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”

11Our enemies said, “They will not know or see anything until we come right among them and kill them and stop the work.”

12When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times, “From every place where you turn, they will come up against us.”

13So I stationed people in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places. I stationed the people by families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

14I looked things over, then 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, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

15When our enemies heard that we knew about it and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.

16From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the armor. The officers stood behind the whole house of Judah.

17Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried the loads did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other.

18Each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side as he built. The man who sounded the trumpet stayed beside me.

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

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

21So we kept at the work, with half of them holding 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 be a guard for us by night and work by day.”

23So neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards who followed me took off our clothes; each kept his weapon even when he went for water.