²² You must not fear them, for ^(A)the Lord your God Himself fights for you.’

^9 (A)Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; ^(B)do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

^17 (A)Then Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which ^(B)David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred.

⁶ So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

⁷ Now it happened, ^(A)when Sanballat, Tobiah, ^(B)the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the ^[a]gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, ⁸ and all of them ^(C)conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. ⁹ Nevertheless ^(D)we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.

¹⁰ Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”

¹¹ And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.”

¹² So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.”

¹³ Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. ¹⁴ And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, ^(E)“Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, ^(F)great and awesome, and ^(G)fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

⁷ For ^(A)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be ^(B)famines, ^[a]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

^9 (C)“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then ^(D)many false prophets will rise up and ^(E)deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow ^(F)cold. ^13 (G)But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this ^(H)gospel of the kingdom ^(I)will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.