Palal the son of Uzai made repairs in front of the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king, which is by the courtyard of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.

Now the temple servants living in Ophel made repairs as far as the front of the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower.

After them the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel.

After them Zadok the son of Immer carried out repairs in front of his house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, carried out repairs.

After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah carried out repairs in front of his own quarters.

After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, carried out repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, in front of the Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room of the corner.

And between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants carried out repairs.

Work Is Ridiculed

Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews.

And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the 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 heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?”

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox were to jump on it, it would break their stone wall down!”

Do not forgive their guilt and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have demoralized the builders.

So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry.

So all of them conspired together to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.

Discouragement Overcome

But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.

And so in Judah it was said: “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, Yet there is much rubble; And we ourselves are unable To rebuild the wall.”

And our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.”

then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows.

When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

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.

As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.

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.

At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared.

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.”