Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Nehemiah 4
Opposition and Mockery
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and very indignant, and he mocked the Jews. He said before his relatives and the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive stones from heaps of rubble, stones that have been burned?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and said, “Even what they are building—if a fox climbed on it, it would break down their stone wall!”
Nehemiah Prays and the People Build
“Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn their reproach back upon their own heads, and give them as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out before you, for they have provoked you before the builders.” So we built the wall, and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a heart to work.
The Threat of Attack
When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of Jerusalem’s walls was advancing and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they became very angry. All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and create confusion in it. But we prayed to our God and set a guard against them day and night because of them. Judah said, “The strength of the burden-bearers is failing, and there is much rubble. We are not able to rebuild the wall.” Our adversaries said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and stop the work.” When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times, “From every place you turn, they will come against us.”
Remember the Lord and Fight
So I stationed people in the lowest places behind the wall, in the exposed places. I stationed the people by families with their swords, spears, and bows. I looked and arose and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awe-inspiring, and fight for your relatives, your sons and daughters, your wives, and your houses.” When our enemies heard that their plan was known to us, and God had frustrated their counsel, all of us returned to the wall, each to the work.
Building with Weapons at Hand
From that day, half of my servants worked on the construction and half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah. Those building the wall and those carrying burdens worked with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. Each builder had a sword strapped at the side while building, and the one who sounded the trumpet stayed beside me. I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and spread out, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there to us. Our God will fight for us.”
So we worked at the work, while half held the spears from the rising of dawn until the stars came out. At that time I also said to the people, “Let each person and servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and labor by day.” Neither I, nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes; each kept a weapon at hand, even at the water.