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.”