Nehemiah 4

1 Later on, when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were rising higher, and that the gaps in them had begun to be closed up, it looked very bad to them. [a] 2 And they all gathered together, to come and fight against Jerusalem. [c] 3 So we prayed to our God, and we set watchmen against them day and night, because of them.

4 And Judah said, “The strength of the enemy is broken, and the rubble lies deep, and we will not be able to build on the wall.” [d] 5 And those who afflicted us said, “They will not know, and they will not see, until we come into the middle of them and kill them and put a stop to the work.” 6 And when the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us, “They are coming up against us from every side.”

7 So I stationed men in the lowest parts of the ground behind the wall, in the sheltered places; and I stationed the people by clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 8 And I looked, and I got up, and I said to the nobles, and to the commanders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember our great and fearful God, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses.” [e] 9 And when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had broken up their plan, we all went back to the wall, each man to his own work.

10 And from that day on, half of those who had been shaken out did the work, and half of them held their ground; and there were spears and shields and bows and breastplates, and the leaders behind the whole house of Judah, [f] 11 who were building on the wall. And those who carried loads on the carrying-poles were under arms: with one hand each man did the work, and with the other he held his javelin. 12 And the builders built with each man’s sword strapped at his waist; and the man who blew the horn was next to him. [g]

13 And I said to the nobles, and to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “The work is wide and great, and we are scattered along the wall, each man far from his brother. 14 In whatever place you hear the sound of the horn, gather there to us; and our God will fight for us.”

15 So we kept at the work, and half of them held the spears, from the break of dawn until the stars came out. 16 And at that time I said to the people, “Lodge in the middle of Jerusalem, and let the night be a watch for you and the day be work.” [h] 17 And I was there, and the men of the watch behind me; and there was not one of us who took off his clothes.