Nehemiah 4-5

Common English Bible

Opposition mounts

4 ^[a] When Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he became angry and raged. He mocked the Jews, ² saying in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria: “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the piles of rubble, even though they are burned?”

³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, added: “If even a fox climbs on whatever they build, their wall of stones will crumble.”

⁶ We continued to build the wall. All of it was joined together, and it reached half of its intended height because the people were eager to work. ^7 [c] But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the work on the walls was progressing and the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. ⁸ They plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to create a disturbance in it.

⁹ So we prayed to our God and set a guard as protection against them day and night.

¹¹ Meanwhile, our enemies were saying: “Before they know or see anything, we can be in their midst and start to kill them. We’ll stop the work!”

¹² Now the Jews who were living near them came and said to us again and again,^[d] “You must return to us!”^[e]

Armed guards protect the builders

¹³ So I took up a position in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall in an open area.^[f] Then I stationed the people by families, and they had their swords, spears, and bows. ¹⁴ After reviewing this, I stood up and said to the officials, the officers, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember that the Lord is great and awesome! Fight for your families, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses!”

¹⁵ Then our enemies heard that we had found out and that God had spoiled their plans. So we all returned to doing our own work on the wall. ¹⁶ But from that day on, only half of my workers continued in the construction, while the other half held the spears, shields, bows, and body armor. Meanwhile, the leaders positioned themselves^[g] behind the whole house of Judah, ¹⁷ who were building the wall. The carriers did their work with a load in one hand and a weapon in the other. ¹⁸ The builders built with swords fastened in their belts, and the trumpeter stayed by my side.

¹⁹ Then I said to the officials, the officers, and the rest of the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are far apart from each other along the wall. ²⁰ When you hear the trumpet sound, come and gather where we are. Our God will fight for us!” ²¹ So we continued the work, with half of them holding spears from dawn until dusk.

²² I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant spend the night in Jerusalem so that we can guard during the night and work during the day.” ²³ Neither I nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor my bodyguards took off our clothes, even when they sent for water.^[h]

Internal unrest

5 Then there was a great protest of the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ² Some said, “With our sons and daughters we are many, and we all need grain to eat and stay alive.”

³ Others said, “We have to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine.”

⁴ Still others said, “We have had to borrow money against our fields and vineyards in order to pay the king’s tax.”

⁵ “We are of the same flesh and blood as our kin, and our children are the same as theirs. Yet we are just about to force our sons and daughters into slavery, and some of our daughters are already slaves! There is nothing we can do since our fields and vineyards now belong to others.”

⁶ I was very angry when I heard their protest and these complaints. ⁷ After thinking it over, I brought charges against the officials and the officers. I told them, “You are all taking interest from your own people!” I also called for a large assembly in order to deal with them. ⁸ “To the best of our ability,” I said to them, “we have bought back our Jewish kin who had been sold to other nations. But now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!” At this they were silent, unable to offer a response.

⁹ So I continued, “What you are doing isn’t good! Why don’t you walk in the fear of our God? This will prevent the taunts of the nations that are our enemies! ¹⁰ I myself, along with my family and my servants, am lending them money and grain. But let’s stop charging this interest! ¹¹ Give it back to them, right now. Return their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses. And give back the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you are charging them.”

¹² They replied, “We’ll return everything, and we won’t charge anything else.^[i] We’ll do what you’ve asked.”

So I called the priests and made them swear to do what they had promised. ¹³ I also shook out the fold of my robe, saying, “So may God shake out everyone from their house and property if they don’t keep this promise. So may they be shaken out and emptied!”

The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Generous Governor Nehemiah

¹⁴ In addition, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah (that is, from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes for a total of twelve years), neither I nor my family ate from the governor’s food allowance. ¹⁵ The earlier governors who had come before me laid heavy burdens on the people. They took food and wine from them as well as^[j] forty shekels of silver. Even their servants oppressed the people. But because I was God-fearing, I didn’t behave in this way.

¹⁶ Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. We acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. ¹⁷ One hundred fifty Jews and officials, along with those who came to us from the surrounding nations, gathered around my table. ¹⁸ One ox, six choice sheep, and birds were prepared each day. Every ten days there was a large amount of wine. Yet even with this I didn’t ask for the governor’s food allowance because of the heavy burden the people had to carry.

¹⁹ Remember in my favor, my God, all that I’ve done for this people!