Nehemiah / Opposition to the Work and Defensive Preparations

Opposition to the Work and Defensive Preparations

Nehemiah 4:1-23

Chapter 4

¹ And it happened that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, it burned him and he was very angry, and he mocked the Jews. ² And he said before his brothers and the army of Samaria, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify it? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of dust, even those that were burned?" ³ And Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and said, "Even what they are building—if a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall." ⁴ Hear, our God, for we are despised. Return their reproach upon their head, and give them as despised in the land of their captivity. ⁵ And do not cover their iniquity and their sin from before you; do not wipe it away, for they have provoked anger before the builders. ⁶ And we built the wall, and all the wall was joined to its half, and there was a heart in the people to work. ⁷ And when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem had made progress, for the breaches had begun to be closed up, it burned them exceedingly. ⁸ And they all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to make confusion in it. ⁹ And we prayed to our God, and we stationed a guard against them day and night to protect against them. ¹⁰ And Judah said, "The strength of the bearers has failed, and the rubble is much, and we are not able to build the wall." ¹¹ And our enemies said, "They will not know or see until we come into their midst, kill them, and stop the work." ¹² And it was when the Jews who were dwelling near them came and said to us, "Ten times from all the places where you return upon us." ¹³ Then I stationed the people behind the wall in the open places. I stationed them by families, with their swords, spears, and bows. ¹⁴ And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, "Do not fear before them; the Lord, the great and awesome one, will remember and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives, and your houses." ¹⁵ And it happened that when our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their counsel, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. ¹⁶ And from that day on, half of the young men were doing the work while half were holding the spears, the shields, the bows, and the slings, with the chiefs behind all the house of Judah. ¹⁷ Those who built the wall and those who carried loads were doing the work with one hand doing the fighting and one grasping the sword. ¹⁸ And the builders, each man with his sword girded on his loins, were building. And the blower of the shofar was beside me. ¹⁹ And he said to Huram and to the deputies and to the rest of the people, "The work is much and wide, and we are separated on the wall, far distant, a man from his brother." ²⁰ In the place where you hear the sound of the shofar, gather there to us. Our God will fight for us. ²¹ And we were doing the work, and half of them were holding spears from the rising of the dawn until the going out of the stars. ²² Also at that time I said to the people: "A man and his youth shall lodge in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be for us guards by night and workers by day." ²³ And there is not I and my brothers and my young men and the men of the guard who are after me—there is no—we are stripping off our clothes; each his weapon the waters.