Nehemiah 4

1 And it cometh to pass, when Sanballat hath heard that we are building the wall, that it is displeasing to him, and he is very angry and mocketh at the Jews,

Now, Sanballat, hearing that we were building the wall, was very angry, and in his wrath made sport of the Jews.

2 and saith before his brethren and the force of Samaria, yea, he saith, 'What [are] the weak Jews doing? are they left to themselves? do they sacrifice? do they complete in a day? do they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish? — and they burnt!'

And in the hearing of his countrymen and the army of Samaria he said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will they make themselves strong? will they make offerings? will they get the work done in a day? will they make the stones which have been burned come again out of the dust?

3 And Tobiah the Ammonite [is] by him and saith, 'Also, that which they are building — if a fox doth go up, then it hath broken down their stone wall.'

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Such is their building that if a fox goes up it, their stone wall will be broken down.

4 Hear, O our God, for we have been despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, and give them for a spoil in a land of captivity;

Give ear, O our God, for we are looked down on: let their words of shame be turned back on themselves, and let them be given up to wasting in a land where they are prisoners:

5 and do not cover over their iniquity, and their sin from before Thee let not be blotted out, for they have provoked to anger — over-against those building.

Let not their wrongdoing be covered or their sin washed away from before you: for they have made you angry before the builders.

6 And we build the wall, and all the wall is joined — unto its half, and the people have a heart to work.

So we went on building the wall; and all the wall was joined together half-way up: for the people were working hard.

7 And it cometh to pass, when Sanballat hath heard, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, that lengthening hath gone up to the walls of Jerusalem, that the breeches have begun to be stopped, then it is very displeasing to them,

But when it came to the ears of Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, that the building of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the broken places were being made good, they were full of wrath;

8 and they conspire, all of them together, to come in to fight against Jerusalem, and to do to it injury.

And they made designs, all of them together, to come and make an attack on Jerusalem, causing trouble there.

9 And we pray unto our God, and appoint a watch against them, by day and by night, because of them.

But we made our prayer to God, and had men on watch against them day and night because of them.

10 And Judah saith, 'The power of the burden-bearers hath become feeble, and the rubbish [is] abundant, and we are not able to build on the wall.'

And Judah said, The strength of the workmen is giving way, and there is much waste material; it is impossible for us to put up the wall.

11 And our adversaries say, 'They do not know, nor see, till that we come in to their midst, and have slain them, and caused the work to cease.'

And those who were against us said, Without their knowledge and without their seeing us, we will come among them and put them to death, causing the work to come to a stop.

12 And it cometh to pass, when the Jews have come who are dwelling near them, that they say to us ten times from all the places whither ye return — [they are] against us.

And it came about that when the Jews who were living near them came, they said to us ten times, From all directions they are coming against us.

13 And I appoint at the lowest of the places, at the back of the wall, in the clear places, yea, I appoint the people, by their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

So in the lowest part of the space at the back of the walls, in the open places, I put the people by families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

14 And I see, and rise up, and say unto the freemen, and unto the prefects, and unto the rest of the people, 'Be not afraid of them; the Lord, the great and the fearful, remember ye, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.'

And after looking, I got up and said to the great ones and to the chiefs and to the rest of the people, Have no fear of them: keep in mind the Lord who is great and greatly to be feared, and take up arms for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your houses.

15 And it cometh to pass, when our enemies have heard that it hath been known to us, and God doth frustrate their counsel, and we turn back, all of us, unto the wall, each unto his work;

And when it came to the ears of those who were against us, that we had knowledge of their designs and that God had made their purpose come to nothing, we all went back to the wall, everyone to his work

16 yea, it cometh to pass, from that day, half of my servants are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the heads [are] behind all the house of Judah.

And from that time, half of my servants were doing their part of the work, and half kept the spears and body-covers and the bows and the metal war-dresses; and the chiefs were at the back of the men of Judah.

17 The builders on the wall, and the bearers of the burden, those lading, [each] with one of his hands is working in the business, and one is laying hold of the missile.

Those who were building the wall and those who were moving material did their part, everyone working with one hand, with his spear in the other;

18 And the builders [are] each with his sword, girded on his loins, and building, and he who is blowing with a trumpet [is] beside me.

Every builder was working with his sword at his side. And by my side was a man for sounding the horn.

19 And I say unto the freemen, and unto the prefects, and unto the rest of the people, 'The work is abundant, and large, and we are separated on the wall, far off one from another;

And I said to the great ones and the chiefs and the rest of the people, The work is great and widely spaced and we are far away from one another on the wall:

20 in the place that ye hear the voice of the trumpet thither ye are gathered unto us; our God doth fight for us.'

Wherever you may be when the horn is sounded, come here to us; our God will be fighting for us.

21 And we are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of the spears, from the going up of the dawn till the coming forth of the stars.

So we went on with the work: and half of them had spears in their hands from the dawn of the morning till the stars were seen.

22 Also, at that time I said to the people, 'Let each with his servant lodge in the midst of Jerusalem, and they have been to us by night a guard, and by day [for] the work:'

And at the same time I said to the people, Let everyone with his servant come inside Jerusalem for the night, so that at night they may keep watch for us, and go on working by day.

23 and there are none — I and my brethren and my servants, the men of the guard who [are] after me — there are none of us putting off our garments, each [hath] his vessel of water.

So not one of us, I or my brothers or my servants or the watchmen who were with me, took off his clothing, everyone went armed to the water.