Nehemiah 4:5-19
New American Standard Bible
7Now 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 began to be closed, they were very angry.
8So all of them conspired together to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.
10And so in Judah it was said: 'The strength of the burden bearers is failing, Yet there is much rubble; And we ourselves are unable To rebuild the wall.'
11And our enemies said, 'They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.'
12When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, 'They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,'
13then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows.
14When I saw their fear, I stood 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, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.'
15Now when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.
16And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah.
17Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon.
18As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.
19And 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.
King James Version
7But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
8And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
9Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
10And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.
13Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
15And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.
16And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.
17They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
18For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
Christian Standard Bible
7When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they became furious.
8They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw it into confusion.
9So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard because of them day and night.
11And our enemies said, "They won’t realize it until we’re among them and can kill them and stop the work."
12When the Jews who lived nearby arrived, they said to us time and again, "Everywhere you turn, they attack us."
13So I stationed people behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.
14After I made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, "Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes."
15When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall.
16From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah,
17who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.
18Each of the builders had his sword strapped around his waist while he was building, and the trumpeter was beside me.
19Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: "The work is enormous and spread out, and we are separated far from one another along the wall.
New Living Translation
7But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious.
8They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion.
9But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
12The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, 'They will come from all directions and attack us!'
13So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.
15When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall.
16But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah
17who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon.
18All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.
English Standard Version
7But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry.
8And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.
9And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
10In Judah it was said, "The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall."
11And our enemies said, "They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work."
12At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, "You must return to us."
13So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to 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, your daughters, your wives, and your homes."
15When our enemies heard that it was 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 servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah,
17who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.
18And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
19And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, "The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.
New International Version
7But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.
8They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.
9But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
13Therefore 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.
14After 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 families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."
16From 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
17who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other,
18and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.
New King James Version
7Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry,
8and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion.
9Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
13Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.
16So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.
17Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.
18Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
