Nehemiah
4
- When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding
the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews,
- and in the presence of his associates and
the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will
they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a
day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble --
burned as they are ?"
- Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side,
said, "What they are building -- if even a fox climbed up on it, he would
break down their wall of stones !"
- Hear us, O our God, for we are despised.
Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a
land of captivity.
- Do not cover up their guilt or blot out
their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the
builders.
- So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached
half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
- But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the
Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls
had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.
- They all plotted together to come and fight
against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.
- But we prayed to our God and posted a guard
day and night to meet this threat.
- Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The
strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we
cannot rebuild the wall."
- Also our enemies said, "Before they
know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and
put an end to the work."
- Then the Jews who lived near them came and
told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."
- Therefore I stationed some of the people
behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by
families, with their swords, spears and bows.
- After I looked things over, I stood up and
said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't
be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight
for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."
- When our enemies heard that we were aware
of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall,
each to his own work.
- From that day on, half of my men did the
work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor.
The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah
- who were building the wall. Those who carried
materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other,
- and each of the builders wore his sword
at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with
me.
- Then I said to the nobles, the officials
and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and
we are widely separated from each other along the wall.
- Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
join us there. Our God will fight for us !"
- So we continued the work with half the men
holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out.
- At that time I also said to the people,
"Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they
can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day."
- Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor
the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he
went for water.
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