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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Nehemiah 4 NET Bible</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/nehemiah/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/nehemiah/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NET Bible</a> > Nehemiah 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../nehemiah/3.htm" title="Nehemiah 3">◄</a> Nehemiah 4 <a href="../nehemiah/5.htm" title="Nehemiah 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">NET Bible</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/net/esv/nehemiah/4.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="title">Opposition to the Work Continues</p><p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span><v id="(3:33)" /> Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was quite upset. He derided the Jews, <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>and in the presence of his colleagues and the army of Samaria he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile! <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from before them. For they have bitterly offended the builders!</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. The people were enthusiastic in their work.</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><v id="(4:1)" /> When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>All of them conspired together to move with armed forces against Jerusalem and to create a disturbance in it. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard to protect against them both day and night. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Then those in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Our adversaries also boasted, “Before they are aware or anticipate anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly about all the schemes they were plotting against us.</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>So I stationed people at the lower places behind the wall in the exposed places. I stationed the people by families, with their swords, spears, and bows. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>When I had 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 awesome Lord, and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>From that day forward, half of my men were doing the work and half of them were taking up spears, shields, bows, and body armor. Now the officers were behind all the people of Judah <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>who were rebuilding the wall. Those who were carrying loads did so by keeping one hand on the work and the other on their weapon. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter remained with me.</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is demanding and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far removed from one another. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there with us. Our God will fight for us!”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>So we worked on, with half holding spears, from dawn till dusk. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>At that time I instructed the people, “Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day. <span class="reftext"><a href="/nehemiah/4-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>We did not change clothes – not I, nor my relatives, nor my workers, nor the watchmen who were with me. Each had his weapon, even when getting a drink of water.</p></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><a href="http://netbible.com/">NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com.<br />Used by permission. 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