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Nehemiah 4:1-23 — Opposition to the Rebuilding

Neh.4.1-23

¹When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews. ²He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from heaps of rubble, though they are burned?” ³Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Even what they are building—if a fox climbs up on it, it will break down their stone wall!” ⁴Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn their reproach back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. ⁵Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you, for they have provoked the builders. ⁶So we rebuilt the wall, and the whole wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a heart to work. ⁷But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem was advancing and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they became very angry. ⁸All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion there. ⁹So we prayed to our God and set a guard against them day and night. ¹⁰Then Judah said, “The strength of the burden-bearers is failing, and there is so much rubble that we are not able to rebuild the wall.” ¹¹And our adversaries said, “They will not know or see until we come into their midst and kill them and put a stop to the work.” ¹²When the Jews who lived near the enemies came, they told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will come against us.” ¹³So I stationed men in the lowest places behind the wall, in the exposed spots. I stationed the people by families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. ¹⁴When I saw this, I rose 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 and your daughters, your wives and your houses.” ¹⁵When our enemies heard that it had become known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. ¹⁶From that day on, half of my young men did the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the armor, and the officers stood behind the whole house of Judah. ¹⁷Those who were building the wall and those who carried burdens loaded themselves so that with one hand each worked at the task and with the other held a weapon. ¹⁸And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built, and the one sounding the trumpet was beside me. ¹⁹Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far from one another. ²⁰Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there to us. Our God will fight for us.” ²¹So we carried on the work, while half of them held the spears from the rising of dawn until the stars came out. ²²At that time I also said to the people, “Let every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they may serve us as a guard at night and as workers by day.” ²³And neither I nor my kinsmen nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes; each kept his weapon even when going for water.

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

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