Nehemiah 4–5

4TH CHAPTER^a

Sanballat Ridicules the Jews

¹When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he became enraged and made fun of the Jews. ²In front of his allies and the army from Samaria, he said, “What do these miserable Jews think they’re doing? Can they rebuild it by themselves? Are they going to offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Will they get the stones out of the rubbish heaps, burned as these stones are, and give them new strength?” 

³Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside Sanballat, said, “Even a fox would make their stone wall collapse if it walked on top of what they’re building!” 

Nehemiah Overcomes Opposition from Sanballat

⁴⸤Nehemiah prayed,⸥ “Our God, hear us. We are despised. Turn their insults back on them, and let them be robbed in the land where they are prisoners. ⁵Don’t ignore their guilt, and don’t let their sins disappear from your records. They have insulted you in front of these builders.” 

⁶So we rebuilt the wall, which was rebuilt to about half its ⸤original⸥ height. The people worked with determination. 

⁷When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from Ashdod heard that the repair work on the walls of Jerusalem was making progress and that the gaps were being filled in, they became furious. ⁸All of them plotted to attack Jerusalem to create confusion. ⁹But we prayed to our God and set guards to protect us day and night. 

¹⁰Then the people of Judah said, “The work crews are worn out, and there is too much rubble. We can’t continue to rebuild the wall.” 

¹¹Our enemies said, “Before they know what is happening or see a thing, we will be right in the middle of them. We’ll kill them and bring the work to an end.” 

¹²Jews who were living near our enemies warned us ten times that our enemies would attack us from every direction. 

¹³That is why I positioned people by their families behind the wall where it was lowest and most exposed. The people were armed with swords, spears, and bows. ¹⁴I looked them over and proceeded to tell the nobles, the leaders, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember how great and awe-inspiring the Lord is. Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” 

¹⁵When our enemies heard that we knew about their plots and that God had prevented their plans from being successful, we all went back to the work on the wall. Each person performed his own job. ¹⁶From that day on, half of my men worked on the wall, and the other half were wearing body armor and holding spears, shields, and bows. The leaders stood behind all the Judeans ¹⁷who were rebuilding the wall. The workers who were carrying loads did the work with one hand and held their weapons with the other, ¹⁸and each builder had his sword fastened to his side. The man who was supposed to sound the trumpet alarm was with me. ¹⁹I told the nobles, the leaders, and the rest of the people, “So much work has to be done in different places that we are widely separated from one another on the wall. ²⁰When you hear the trumpet, assemble around me. Our God will fight for us!” 

²¹So we continued to work. Half of us held spears from early dawn until the stars came out. ²²At that time I told the people, “Every man and his servant should stay overnight in Jerusalem so that we can set a guard at night and work during the day.” ²³My brothers, my servants, and the guards assigned to me never changed their clothes. Neither did I. We each kept our weapons at hand. 

5TH CHAPTER

The Poor Complain about Their Rich Relatives

¹Then some of the people, the men and their wives, complained publicly about their Jewish relatives. ²Some of them said, “We have large families! We need some grain ⸤if we are going⸥ to eat and stay alive.” ³Others said, “We’ve had to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our homes in order to get some grain because of this famine.” ⁴Others said, “We’ve had to borrow money to pay the king’s taxes on our fields and vineyards. ⁵We have the same flesh and blood as our relatives. Our children are just like theirs. Yet, we have to force our sons and daughters to become slaves. Some of our daughters have already become slaves. But we can’t do anything else when our fields and vineyards belong to others.” 

Nehemiah Stops the Rich from Taking Advantage of the Poor

⁶I became furious when I heard their complaint and what they had to say. ⁷After thinking it over, I confronted the nobles and the leaders. I told them, “You are charging interest on loans made to your own relatives.” I arranged for a large meeting to deal with them. ⁸Then I told them, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish relatives who had been sold to other nations. Now you are selling your Jewish relatives so that we have to buy them back again!” They were unable to say anything. ⁹I added, “What you’re doing is wrong. Shouldn’t you live in the fear of our God to keep our enemies from ridiculing us? ¹⁰My brothers, my servants, and I are lending money and grain to the poor. But we must stop charging them interest. ¹¹You must return their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their homes today. Also, you must return the interest on the money, grain, new wine, and olive oil you’ve been charging them.” 

¹²They responded, “We’ll return it and not try to get it from them ⸤again⸥. We’ll do what you say.” Then I called the priests and made them swear to do what they promised. ¹³I brushed off my clothes and said, “In the same way, may God brush off from home and work everyone who refuses to keep this promise. In the same way, may everyone be brushed off and left with nothing.” Then the whole congregation said amen and praised the Lord. The people did what they had promised. 

Nehemiah Never Takes What Is Rightfully His as Governor

¹⁴During the 12 years that I was governor of Judah, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign to the thirty-second year of his reign, my brothers and I never ate any food that was paid for by the governor’s food allowance. ¹⁵Those who were governors before me had made life difficult for the people by taking from them food and wine plus one pound of silver. Even the governors’ servants took advantage of their power over the people. But I didn’t do that, because I feared God. ¹⁶Instead, I put my best effort into the work on this wall, and we bought no land. All my men gathered here for work. ¹⁷I fed 150 Jewish leaders and their people who came to us from the surrounding nations. ¹⁸Preparing one ox and six choice sheep was necessary every day. Poultry was prepared for me. Once every ten days a supply of wine was ordered. Yet, in spite of all this, I never demanded anything from the governor’s food allowance, because these people were already carrying a heavy load. 

Nehemiah’s Prayer

¹⁹Remember me, my God. Consider everything that I have done for these people.