Work Is Ridiculed

4 ^[a]Now it came about that when ^(A)Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews. ² He spoke in the presence of his brothers and ^(B)the ^[b]wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the ^[c](C)dusty rubble even the burned ones?” ³ Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—^(D)if a fox should ^[d]jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”

^4 (E)Hear, O our God, how we are despised! ^(F)Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. ⁵ Do not ^[e](G)forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have ^[f]demoralized the builders.

⁶ So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a ^[g]mind to work.

^7 [h]Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the ^[i]repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. ⁸ All of them ^(H)conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.

Discouragement Overcome

⁹ But we prayed to our God, and because of them we ^(I)set up a guard against them day and night.

¹⁰ Thus ^[j]in Judah it was said,

¹¹ Our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.” ¹² When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “^[l]They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” ¹³ then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the ^[m]exposed places, and I ^(J)stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows. ¹⁴ When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: “^(K)Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and ^(L)fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”

¹⁵ When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that ^(M)God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. ¹⁶ From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. ¹⁷ Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. ¹⁸ As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while ^[n]the trumpeter stood near me. ¹⁹ I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. ²⁰ At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, ^[o]rally to us there. ^(N)Our God will fight for us.”

²¹ So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from ^[p]dawn until the stars ^[q]appeared. ²² At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” ²³ So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.

Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance.

A Psalm of David.

The Fifth Trumpet—the Bottomless Pit

9 Then the ^(A)fifth angel sounded, and I saw a ^(B)star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the ^(C)key of the ^[a](D)bottomless pit was given to him. ² He opened the ^[b]bottomless pit, and ^(E)smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and ^(F)the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. ³ Then out of the smoke came ^(G)locusts ^[c]upon the earth, and power was given them, as the ^(H)scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴ They were told not to ^(I)hurt the ^(J)grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the ^(K)seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ And ^[d]they were not permitted to kill ^[e]anyone, but to torment for ^(L)five months; and their torment was like the torment of a ^(M)scorpion when it ^[f]stings a man. ⁶ And in those days ^(N)men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.

⁷ The ^[g](O)appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. ⁸ They had hair like the hair of women, and their ^(P)teeth were like the teeth of lions. ⁹ They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the ^(Q)sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. ¹⁰ They have tails like ^(R)scorpions, and stings; and in their ^(S)tails is their power to hurt men for ^(T)five months. ¹¹ They have as king over them, the angel of the ^(U)abyss; his name in ^(V)Hebrew is ^[h](W)Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name ^[i]Apollyon.

^12 (X)The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

The Sixth Trumpet—Army from the East

¹³ Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard ^[j]a voice from the ^[k]four ^(Y)horns of the ^(Z)golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴ one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the ^(AA)four angels who are bound at the ^(AB)great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were ^(AC)released, so that they would kill a ^(AD)third of ^[l]mankind. ¹⁶ The number of the armies of the horsemen was ^(AE)two hundred million; ^(AF)I heard the number of them. ¹⁷ And ^[m]this is how I saw ^(AG)in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of ^[n](AH)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and ^(AI)out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and ^[o](AJ)brimstone. ¹⁸ A ^(AK)third of ^[p]mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the ^(AL)fire and the smoke and the ^[q]brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.

²⁰ The rest of ^[r]mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^(AM)did not repent of ^(AN)the works of their hands, so as not to ^(AO)worship demons, and ^(AP)the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; ²¹ and they ^(AQ)did not repent of their murders nor of their ^(AR)sorceries nor of their ^(AS)immorality nor of their thefts.