Nehemiah 4:1-14

Expanded Bible

Those Against the Rebuilding

4 When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he was very angry, even furious. He ·made fun of [mocked; ridiculed] the Jewish people. ² He said to his ·friends [colleagues; ^Lbrothers] and ·those with power in [or the army/aristocracy of] Samaria, “What are these ·weak [feeble; pathetic] Jews doing? Will they ·rebuild the wall [or leave it all to God]? Will they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in one day? Can they ·bring stones back to life from piles of trash and ashes [revive stones from piles of rubble—burnt stones at that]?”

³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was ·next to Sanballat [^Lbeside him], said, “If a fox climbed up on the stone wall they are building, it would break it down.”

⁴ I prayed, “Hear us, our God. We are ·hated [despised]. Turn the ·insults [taunts; sneers] of Sanballat and Tobiah back on their own heads. ·Let them be captured and stolen like valuables [Send them as plunder to a land of exile]. ⁵ Do not ·hide [cover; ignore] their guilt or ·take away [blot out] their sins so that you can’t see them, because they have ·insulted [deeply offended; or demoralized] the builders.”

⁶ So we rebuilt [^Land connected/joined together] the wall to half its height, because the people were ·willing to [enthusiastic in their; ^Lhad a heart to] work.

⁷ But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from Ashdod were very angry when they heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls were continuing and that the ·holes [gaps; breaches] in the wall were being closed. ⁸ So they all made plans to come to Jerusalem and fight and ·stir up trouble [cause confusion/a disturbance]. ⁹ But we prayed to our God and appointed guards ·to watch for [^Lagainst] them day and night.

¹⁰ The people of Judah said, “The ·workers are getting tired [strength of the laborers is failing]. There is so much ·trash [debris; rubble] we cannot rebuild the wall.”

¹¹ And our enemies said, “·The Jews [^LThey] won’t know or see anything until we come among them and kill them and stop the work.”

¹² Then the Jewish people who lived near our enemies came and ·told [warned] us repeatedly [^Lten times], “·Everywhere you turn [From every direction], the enemy will attack us.” ¹³ So I ·put [stationed] people behind the lowest places along the wall—the ·open [exposed] places—and I ·put families together [stationed people by families] with their swords, spears, and bows. ¹⁴ ·Then I looked around and [After an inspection, I] stood up and said to the ·important men [nobles], the ·leaders [officials], and the rest of the people: “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and ·powerful [awesome; glorious]. Fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives, and your homes.”