Nehemiah 4:7–18

⁷¹Now it happened that when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the ²repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the places broken down began to be closed, they were very angry.

⁸All of them ^ajoined together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.

⁹But we prayed to our God, and because of them we ^astood a guard against them day and night.

¹⁰Then Judah said,

“The ¹strength of the burden bearers is failing,

Yet there is much ²rubbish;

And we ourselves are unable

To rebuild the wall.”

¹¹Our adversaries said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.”

¹²Now it happened when the Jews who lived near them came and said to us ten times, “¹They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,”

¹³that I had men stand in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the ¹exposed places, and I ^ahad the people stand by families with their swords, spears, and bows.

¹⁴Then I saw their fear. And I arose and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “^aDo not fear them; remember the Lord who is great and fearsome, and ^bfight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

Doing the Work and Holding a Weapon

¹⁵Now it happened that when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that ^aGod had thwarted their counsel, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.

¹⁶And it happened that from that day on, half of my young men carried on the work while half of them took hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the breastplates; and the commanders were behind the whole house of Judah.

¹⁷Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon.

¹⁸As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while ¹the trumpeter stood near me.