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 he mocked the Jews. ² And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and ^(B)the ^[b]wealthy people of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the temple for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Can they revive the stones from the ^(C)heaps of 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 were to ^[c]jump on it, it would break their stone wall down!”

^4 (E)Hear, O our God, how we are an object of contempt! ^(F)Return their taunting on their own heads, and turn them into plunder in a land of captivity. ⁵ Do not ^[d](G)forgive their guilt and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have ^[e]demoralized the builders.

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

^7 [g]Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the ^[h]repair of the walls of Jerusalem went ^[i]on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. ⁸ So all of them ^(H)conspired together to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion 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 And so ^[j]in Judah it was said:

¹¹ And 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, “^[k]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 exposed places, and I ^(J)stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows. ¹⁴ When I saw their fear, I stood and said 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 Now 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 And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah. ¹⁷ Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon. ¹⁸ As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while ^[l]the trumpeter stood near me. ¹⁹ And 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, assemble to us there. ^(N)Our God will fight for us.”

²¹ So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from ^[m]dawn until the stars ^[n]appeared. ²² At that time I also said to the people, “Each man with his servant shall 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 ^[o]removed our clothes; each took his weapon even to the water.

Acceptance and Opposition

14 In ^(A)Iconium ^(B)they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a way ^(C)that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of ^(D)Greeks. ² But ^(E)the ^[a](F)unbelieving Jews stirred up the ^[b]minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against ^(G)the brothers. ³ Therefore they spent a long time there ^(H)speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that ^[c](I)signs and wonders be performed by their hands. ^4 (J)But the ^[d]people of the city were divided; and some ^[e]sided with ^(K)the Jews, while others, with ^(L)the apostles. ⁵ And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and ^(M)the Jews with their rulers, to treat them abusively and to ^(N)stone them, ⁶ they became aware of it and fled to the cities of ^(O)Lycaonia, ^(P)Lystra and ^(Q)Derbe, and the surrounding region; ⁷ and there they continued to ^(R)preach the gospel.

⁸ In ^(S)Lystra ^(T)a man was sitting whose feet were incapacitated. He had been disabled from his mother’s womb, and had never walked. ⁹ This man was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul ^(U)looked at him intently and saw that he had ^(V)faith to be ^[f]made well, ¹⁰ and he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” ^(W)And the man leaped up and began to walk. ¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the ^(X)Lycaonian language, “^(Y)The gods have become like men and have come down to us!” ¹² And they began calling Barnabas, ^[g]Zeus, and Paul, ^[h]Hermes, since he was ^[i]the chief speaker. ¹³ Moreover, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was ^[j]just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and ^(Z)wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴ But when ^(AA)the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they ^(AB)tore their ^[k]robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out ¹⁵ and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also ^(AC)men, of the same nature as you, ^(AD)preaching the gospel to you, to turn from these ^[l](AE)useless things to a ^(AF)living God, who ^(AG)made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them. ^16 [m]In past generations He ^(AH)permitted all the ^[n]nations to ^(AI)go their own ways; ¹⁷ yet ^(AJ)He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and ^(AK)gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, ^[o]satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” ¹⁸ And even by saying these things, only with difficulty did they restrain the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

¹⁹ But ^(AL)Jews came from ^(AM)Antioch and ^(AN)Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they ^(AO)stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking that he was dead. ²⁰ But while ^(AP)the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he left with Barnabas for ^(AQ)Derbe. ²¹ And after they had ^(AR)preached the gospel to that city and had ^(AS)made a good number of disciples, they returned to ^(AT)Lystra, to ^(AU)Iconium, and to ^(AV)Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of ^(AW)the disciples, encouraging them to continue in ^(AX)the faith, and saying, “^(AY)It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God.” ²³ When ^(AZ)they had appointed ^(BA)elders for them in every church, having ^(BB)prayed with fasting, they ^(BC)entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁴ They passed through ^(BD)Pisidia and came into ^(BE)Pamphylia. ²⁵ When they had spoken the word in ^(BF)Perga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶ From there they sailed to ^(BG)Antioch, ^(BH)where they had been ^(BI)entrusted to the grace of God for the work that they had ^[p]accomplished. ²⁷ When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to ^(BJ)report all the things that God had done with them and ^[q]how He had opened a ^(BK)door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ And they spent ^[r]a long time with ^(BL)the disciples.