Work Is Ridiculed

4 ^[a]Now it came about that when 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 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]dusty rubble even the burned ones?” ³ Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox should ^[d]jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”

⁴ Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. ⁵ Do not ^[e]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 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 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 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: “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 houses.”

¹⁵ When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that 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. 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.