Nehemiah 4

1When Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of Jerusalem’s walls had gone up, that the breaches had begun to be closed, they became very angry.

2And all of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.

3So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard against them day and night because of them.

4And Judah said, “The strength of the burden-bearers has failed, and there is much rubble, and we are not able to build the wall.”

5And our adversaries said, “They will not know, and they will not see, until we come into their midst and kill them and stop the work.”

6And when the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “From all the places where you turn, they will come up against us,”

7Then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the place, behind the wall, in the exposed areas; and I stationed the people by families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

8Then I looked, rose up, and said to the nobles, to the officials, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and fearsome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

9And it happened that when our enemies heard that it had become known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each man to his work.

10And from that day on, half of my young men were doing the work, and half of them were holding the spears, the shields, the bows, and the armor; and the officers were behind all the house of Judah.

11The builders on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand each did the work, and with the other held his weapon.

12And the builders each had his sword strapped at his side while they built, and the one blowing the trumpet was beside me.

13And I said to the nobles, to the officials, and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and spread out, and we are separated along the wall, far from one another.”

14At the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there to us. Our God will fight for us.

15So we kept doing the work, while half of them held the spears from the rising of the dawn until the coming out of the stars.

16Also at that time I said to the people, “Let each man and his servant spend the night within Jerusalem, and let them be a guard for us by night and workers by day.”

17And neither I, nor my brothers, nor my young men, nor the men of the guard who were behind me, took off our clothes; each kept his weapon in his right hand, even for water.