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.

Prayer for Help and Guidance.

A Psalm of David.

The Fifth Trumpet: Shaft of the Abyss

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 to the ^(D)shaft of the abyss was given to him. ² He opened the shaft of the abyss, and ^(E)smoke ascended out of the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace; and ^(F)the sun and the air were darkened from the smoke of the shaft. ³ Then out of the smoke came ^(G)locusts ^[a]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 people who do not have the ^(K)seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ And ^[b]they were not permitted to kill ^[c]anyone, but to torment for ^(L)five months; and their torment was like the torment of a ^(M)scorpion when it ^[d]stings a person. ⁶ And in those days ^(N)people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death ^[e]will flee from them!

⁷ The ^[f](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 human faces. 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 people for ^(T)five months. ¹¹ They have as king over them, the angel of the ^(U)abyss; his name in ^(V)Hebrew is ^[g](W)Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name ^[h]Apollyon.

^12 (X)The first woe has passed; 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 ^[i]a voice from the ^[j]four ^(Y)horns of the ^(Z)golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴ 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 mankind. ¹⁶ The number of the armies of the horsemen was ^(AE)two hundred million; ^(AF)I heard the number of them. ¹⁷ And this is how I saw ^(AG)in my vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire, of hyacinth, and of ^[k](AH)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and ^(AI)out of their mouths *came fire and smoke and ^[l](AJ)brimstone. ¹⁸ A ^(AK)third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the ^(AL)fire, the smoke, and the ^[m]brimstone which came 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 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, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; ²¹ and they ^(AQ)did not repent of their murders, nor of their ^(AR)witchcraft, nor of their ^(AS)sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.