Nehemiah 4
1 But when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, then was he wroth and sore grieued, and mocked the Iewes,
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the city wall, he was very angry. He was enraged/furious. He made fun of us Jews.
2 And sayde before his brethren and the armie of Samaria, thus he sayde, What doe these weake Iewes? wil they fortifie them selues? wil they sacrifice? will they finish it in a day? will they make the stones whole againe out of the heapes of dust, seeing they are burnt?
While his colleagues and officials of the army troops who had come from Samaria were listening, he said, “What do these feeble/pathetic Jews [think they] are doing? Do they think that if they offer enough/many sacrifices, [their gods will hear them and enable] them to finish building the wall in one day? The stones [that were in the wall previously have been weakened by] being burned in a fire. Those stones that they are pulling out of the rubbish/garbage heaps—do they think that they can make them strong again?” [RHQ]
3 And Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and said, Although they buylde, yet if a foxe goe vp, he shall euen breake downe their stonie wall.
Tobiah was [standing] beside Sanballat. He said, “That stone wall [that they are building] is very weak; so if even a fox climbed up on it, the wall would fall down!”
4 Heare, O our God (for we are despised) and turne their shame vpon their owne head, and giue them vnto a pray in the lande of their captiuitie,
Then I prayed. I said, “Our God, hear us, because they are ridiculing us! Cause the words of their insults to fall back on them! Allow their enemies to come and capture them and force them to go to a foreign land!
5 And couer not their iniquitie, neither let their sinne be put out in thy presence: for they haue prouoked vs before the builders.
They are guilty; they have [said things that] caused you to be angry while the people here who are building the wall are listening; so punish them!”
6 So we built the wall, and all the wall was ioyned vnto the halfe thereof, and the heart of the people was to worke.
But after some time, we finished building the wall around the whole city, up to half as high as the first wall had been. We were able to do that because we worked very hard.
7 But when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodims heard that the walles of Ierusalem were repayred, (for the breaches began to be stopped) then they were very wroth,
But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the men from Arabia, the people from the Ammon [people-group] and from Ashdod [city] heard that the work on the wall was continuing and that we were filling in the gaps in the wall, they became very angry.
8 And conspired all together to come and to fight against Ierusalem, and to hinder them.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 The we prayed vnto our God, and set watchmen by them, day and night, because of them.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 And Iudah said, The strength of the bearers is weakened, and there is much earth, so that we are not able to build the wall.
Then the people of [MTY] Judah started to say, “The men who are working [on the wall] are becoming very tired. There is a lot of [heavy] rubble that we must remove; we ourselves cannot finish the work.
11 Also our aduersaries had sayde, They shall not knowe, neither see, till we come into the middes of them and slay them, and cause the worke to cease.
“Besides, our enemies are saying, ‘Before the Jews see us, we will swoop down on them and kill them and stop their work [on the wall]!’”
12 But when the Iewes (which dwelt beside them) came, they told vs ten times, From all places whence ye shall returne, they wil be vpon vs.
The Jews who were living near our enemies came and told us many times, “You should leave the city and go to other places, in order that your enemies will not attack you!”
13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall vpon the toppes of the stones, and placed the people by their families, with their swordes, their speares and their bowes.
So I put guards at the places where the wall was not very high yet and at places where there were gaps in the wall. I put guards to protect each of their family groups. I gave the guards daggers, spears, and bows [and arrows].
14 Then I behelde, and rose vp, and said vnto the Princes, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not afrayde of them: remember the great Lord, and fearefull, and fight for your brethren, your sonnes, and your daughters, your wiues, and your houses.
Then after I inspected everything, I summoned the leaders and [other] officials and [many of] the other people, and I said to them, “Do not be afraid of our enemies! Think about [what] Yahweh, who is great and glorious, [can do]! And fight to protect your friends, your families, and your homes!”
15 And when our enemies heard that it was knowen vnto vs, then God brought their counsell to nought, and we turned all againe to the wall, euery one vnto his worke.
Our enemies heard that we knew what they were planning to do and that God had (spoiled their plans/prevented them from doing what they planned). [But we were sure that God would defend us, ] so we all started to work on the wall again.
16 And from that day, halfe of the yong men did the labour, and the other halfe part of them helde the speares, and shieldes, and bowes, and habergins: and the rulers stoode behinde all the house of Iudah.
But after that, only half of the men who were working for me worked on the wall. The others stood there on guard, holding their spears, shields, bows [and arrows], and [wearing their] coats made of metal plates. [To encourage the people] were building the wall, their leaders stood behind them.
17 They that buylded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, and they that laded, did the worke with one hand, and with the other helde the sworde.
Those who carried [baskets of supplies on their heads/shoulders] and those who built the wall did their work with one hand, and held a weapon with the other hand.
18 For euery one of the buylders had his sworde girded on his loynes, and so buylded: and he that blewe the trumpet, was beside me.
All those who were building [the wall] had a dagger fastened to their side. The man who would blow the trumpet [if our enemies attacked] was standing at my side.
19 Then saide I vnto the Princes, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The worke is great and large, and we are separated vpon the wall, one farre from another.
Then I said to the officials, the other important men, and the other people, “This wall is very long, and we are far apart from each other along the wall.
20 In what place therefore ye heare the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither vnto vs: our God shall fight for vs.
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 So we laboured in the worke, and halfe of them helde the speares, from the appearing of the morning, till the starres came foorth.
So we continued to work. Half of the men continued to hold their spears all day, from when the sun rose [in the morning] until the stars appeared [at night].
22 And at the same time said I vnto the people, Let euery one with his seruant lodge within Ierusalem, that they may be a watch for vs in the night, and labour in the day.
At that time, I also said to the people, “Tell every worker and his helper that they must stay inside Jerusalem at night. By doing that, they can guard us at night, and they can work [on the wall] during the daytime.”
23 So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my seruants, nor the men of the warde, (which followed me) none of vs did put off our clothes, saue euery one put them off for washing.
During that time, none of us ever took off our clothes (OR, we wore our clothes all the time)—I and my relatives and my workers and the guards who were with me. And we had our weapons with us, in our hands.
