Nehemiah 4
Living Bible
4 1-2 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage, and insulted and mocked us and laughed at us, and so did his friends and the Samaritan army officers. “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they are doing?” he scoffed. “Do they think they can build the wall in a day if they offer enough sacrifices? And look at those charred stones they are pulling out of the rubbish and using again!”
3 Tobiah, who was standing beside him, remarked, “If even a fox walked along the top of their wall, it would collapse!”
4 Then I prayed, “Hear us, O Lord God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back upon their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! 5 Do not ignore their sin. Do not blot it out, for they have despised you in despising us who are building your wall.”
6 At last the wall was completed to half its original height around the entire city—for the workers worked hard.
7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going right ahead and that the breaks in the wall were being repaired, they became furious. 8 They plotted to lead an army against Jerusalem to bring about riots and confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
10 Then some of the leaders began complaining that the workmen were becoming tired; and there was so much rubble to be removed that we could never get it done by ourselves. 11 Meanwhile, our enemies were planning to swoop down upon us and kill us, thus ending our work. 12 And whenever the workers who lived in the nearby cities went home for a visit, our enemies tried to talk them out of returning to Jerusalem. 13 So I placed armed guards from each family in the cleared spaces behind the walls.
14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the leaders and the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Remember the Lord who is great and glorious; fight for your friends, your families, and your homes!”
15 Our enemies learned that we knew of their plot, and that God had exposed and frustrated their plan. Now we all returned to our work on the wall; 16 but from then on, only half worked while the other half stood guard behind them. 17 And the masons and laborers worked with weapons within easy reach beside them 18 or with swords belted to their sides. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.
19 “The work is so spread out,” I explained to them, “and we are separated so widely from each other, that when you hear the trumpet blow, you must rush to where I am; and God will fight for us.”
20-21 We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset; and half the men were always on guard. 22 I told everyone living outside the walls to move into Jerusalem so that their servants could go on guard duty as well as work during the day. 23 During this period none of us—I, nor my brothers, nor the servants, nor the guards who were with me—ever took off our clothes except for washing.[a] And we carried our weapons with us at all times.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 4:23 except for washing, or “even when we went for water,” or “not even at night.” The meaning of the Hebrew text is uncertain.
Nehemias 4
Dette er Biblen på dansk
4 Men da Sanballat hørte, at vi byggede på Muren, blev han vred og harmfuld; og han spottede Jøderne 2 og sagde i Påhør af sine Brødre og Samarias Krigsfolk: "Hvad er det, disse usle Jøder har for? Vilo de overlade Gud det? Vil de ofre? Kan de gøre det færdigt endnu i Dag? Kan de kalde Stenene i disse Grusdynger til Live, når de er forbrændt?" 3 Og Ammoniten Tobija, der stod ved siden af ham, sagde: "Lad dem bygge, så meget de vil; en Ræv kan rive deres Stenmur ned, blot den springer derop!" 4 Hør, vor Gud, hvorledes vi er blevet hånet! Lad deres Spot falde tilbage på deres eget Hoved, og lad dem blive hånet som Fanger i et Fremmed Land! 5 Skjul ikke deres Brøde og lad ikke deres Synd blive udslettet for dit Åsyn, thi med deres Ord krænkede de dem, der byggede! 6 Men vi byggede på Muren, og hele Muren blev bygget færdig i halv Højde, og Folket arbejdede med god Vilje.
7 Da nu Sanballat og Tobija og Araberne, Ammoniterne og Asdoditerne børte, at det skred fremad med Istandsættelsen af Jerusalems Mure, og at Hullerne i Muren begyndte at lukkes, blev de meget vrede, 8 og de sammensvor sig alle om at drage hen og angribe Jerusalem og fremkalde Forvirring der. 9 Da bad vi til vor Gud og satte Vagt både Dag og Naf for at værne os imod dem. 10 Men Jøderne sagde: Lastdragernes Kræfter svigter, og Grusdyngerne er for store; vi kan ikke bygge på Muren! 11 Og vore Fjender sagde: De må ikke mærke noget, før vi står midt iblandt dem og hugger dem ned og således får Arbejdet til at gå i Stå! 12 Da nu de Jøder, der boede dem nærmest, Gang på Gang kom og lod os vide, at de rykkede op imod os fra alle Steder, hvor de boede, 13 og da Folkene kun turde stille sig op på Steder, der lå lavere end Pladsen bag Muren, i Kælderrum, så opstillede jeg Folket Slægt for Slægt, væbnet med Sværd, Spyd og Buer; 14 og da jeg så det, trådte jeg frem og sagde til Stormændene og Forstanderne og det øvrige Folk: Frygt ikke for dem! Kom den store, frygtelige Gud i Hu og kæmp for eders Brødre, Sønner og Døtre, eders Hustruer og Huse!
15 Men da vore Fjender hørte, at vi havde fået det at vide, og at Gud gjorde deres Råd til intet, vendte vi alle tilbage til Muren, hver til sit Arbejde. 16 Men fra den Tid af arbejdede kun den ene Halvdel af mine Folk, medens den anden Halvdel stod væbnet med Spyd, Skjolde, Buer og Brynjer; og Øversterne stod bag ved alle de Jøder, 17 der byggede på Muren. Også Lastdragerne var væbnet; med den ene Hånd arbejdede de, og med den anden.holdt de Spydet; 18 og de, der byggede, havde under Arbejdet hver sit Sværd bundet til Lænden. Ved Siden af mig stod Hornblæseren; 19 og jeg sagde til de store og Forstanderne og det øvrige Folk: "Arbejdet er stort og omfattende, og vi er spredt på Muren langt fra hverandre; 20 hvor l nu hører Hornet gjalde, skal l samles om os; vor Gud vil stride for os! 21 Således udførte vi Arbejdet, idet Halvdelen af os holdt Spydene rede fra Morgengry til Stjernernes Opgang. 22 Samtidig sagde jeg også til Folket: Enhver skal sammen med sin Dreng overnatte i Jerusalem, for at vi kan have dem til Vagt om Natten og til Arbejde om Dagen!" 23 Og hverken jeg eller mine Brødre eller mine Folk eller Vagten, der fulgte mig, afførte os vore Klæder, og enhver, der blev sendt efter Vand, havde Spydet med.
Nehemiah 4
1599 Geneva Bible
4 7 The building of Jerusalem is hindered, 15 but God breaketh their enterprise. 17 The Jews build with one hand, and hold their weapons in the other.
1 But when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, then was he wroth and sore grieved, and mocked the Jews,
2 And said before his [a]brethren and the army of Samaria, thus he said, What do these [b]weak Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they finish it in a day? will they make the stones whole again out of the heaps of dust, seeing they are burnt?
3 And Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and said, Although they build, yet if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stony wall.
4 [c]Hear, O our God (for we are despised) and turn their shame upon their own head, and give them unto a prey [d]in the land of their captivity,
5 And cover not their [e]iniquity, neither let their sin be put out in thy presence: for they have provoked us before the builders.
6 So we built the wall, and all the wall was joined unto the [f]half thereof, and the heart of the people was to work.
7 ¶ But when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodims heard that the walls of Jerusalem were repaired, (for the breaches began to be stopped) then they were very wroth,
8 And conspired all together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to [g]hinder them.
9 Then we prayed unto our God, and set watchmen by them, day and night, because of them.
10 And Judah said, The strength of the bearers is weakened, and there is much earth, so that we are not able to build the wall.
11 Also our adversaries had said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come into the midst of them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
12 But when the Jews (which dwelt beside them) came, they told us [h]ten times, [i]From all places, whence ye shall return, they will be upon us.
13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall upon the tops of the stones, and placed the people by their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 Then I beheld, and rose up, and said unto the princes, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not afraid of them: [j]remember the great Lord, and fearful, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
15 And when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, then God brought their counsel to nought, and we turned all again to the wall, every one unto his work.
16 And from that day half of the young men did the labor, and the other half part of them held the spears, and shields, and bows, and habergeons: and the Rulers stood [k]behind all the house of Judah.
17 They that built on the wall, and they that bare burdens, and they that laded, did the work with one hand, and with the other held the sword.
18 For every one of the builders had his sword girded on his loins, and so built: and he that blew the trumpet, was beside me.
19 Then said I unto the Princes, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.
20 In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, [l]resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.
21 So we labored in the work, and half of them held the spears, from the appearing of the morning, till the stars came forth.
22 And at the same time said I unto the people, Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that they may be a watch for us in the night, and labor in the day.
23 So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the ward (which followed me) none of us did put off our clothes, save everyone put them off [m]for washing.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 4:2 Of his companions that dwelt in Samaria.
- Nehemiah 4:2 Thus the wicked that consider not that God’s power is ever in a readiness for the defense of his, mock them as though they were weak and feeble.
- Nehemiah 4:4 This is the remedy that the children of God have against the derision and threatenings of their enemies, to flee to God by prayer.
- Nehemiah 4:4 Let them be spoiled and led away captive.
- Nehemiah 4:5 Let the plagues declare to the world that they set themselves against thee and against thy Church: that he prayeth only having respect to God’s glory and not for any private affection, or grudge.
- Nehemiah 4:6 Or, half height.
- Nehemiah 4:8 Hebrew, make to stay, meaning the people.
- Nehemiah 4:12 That is, oftentimes.
- Nehemiah 4:12 They which brought the tidings, said thus, When you leave your work, and go either to eat or to rest, your enemies will assail you.
- Nehemiah 4:14 Who is ever at hand to deliver his out of danger: and therefore seeing they should fight for the maintenance of God’s glory, and for the preservation of their own lives and of theirs, he encourageth them to play the valiant men.
- Nehemiah 4:16 To oversee them and to encourage them to their work.
- Nehemiah 4:20 Meaning, to resist their enemies, if need required.
- Nehemiah 4:23 That is, when they purified themselves, or else when they washed their clothes.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
