¹But when ^aSanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious, completely enraged, and he ridiculed the Jews. 2 He spoke before his brothers and ^athe army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the ^bheaps of dust and rubbish, even the ones that have been burned?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Even what they are building—^aif a fox should get up on it, he would break down their stone wall.”

4 And Nehemiah prayed ^aHear, O our God, how we are despised! ^bReturn their taunts on their own heads. Give them up as prey in a land of captivity. 5 Do not forgive ^atheir wrongdoing and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have offended the builders and provoked You.

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

7 ¹But 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 were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all ^aconspired together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to cause a disturbance in it.

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

10 Then the leaders of Judah said,“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,And there is much rubble;We ourselves are unableTo rebuild the wall.” 11 Our enemies said, “They will not know or see us until we are among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times (repeatedly) , “From every place you turn, they will come up against us.” 13 So I stationed armed men behind the wall in the lowest places, at the open positions where it was least protected; and I ^astationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles and officials and the rest of the people: “^aDo not be afraid of them; confidently remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and with courage from Him ^bfight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and for your homes.”

15 Now when our enemies heard that we knew about their plot against us, and that ^aGod had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while the other half held the spears, shields, bows, and breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens loaded themselves so that everyone worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other. 18 Every builder had his sword secured at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet to summon the troops stood at my side. 19 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. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather to us there. ^aOur God will fight for us.”

21 So we carried on with the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem so that they may serve as a guard for us at night and a laborer during the day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers (relatives) , my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each took his weapon even to the water.

¹Now it came about that when ^aSanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and ^athe ¹wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the ^2bdusty rubble even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—^aif a fox should ¹jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”

4 ^aHear, O our God, how we are despised! ^bReturn their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not ^1aforgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have ²demoralized the builders.

6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a ¹mind to work.

7 ¹Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the ²repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them ^aconspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.

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

10 Thus ¹in Judah it was said,“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,Yet there is much ²rubbish;And we ourselves are unableTo rebuild the wall.” 11 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, “¹They 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 ¹exposed places, and I ^astationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: “^aDo not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and ^bfight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”

15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that ^aGod had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while ¹the trumpeter stood near me. 19 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. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, ¹rally to us there. ^aOur God will fight for us.”

21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from ¹dawn until the stars ²appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.