Nehemiah:4

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* Now , Sanballat , hearing that we were building the wall , was very angry , and in his wrath made sport of the Jews . * And in the hearing of his countrymen and the army of Samaria he said : »What are these feeble Jews doing ? Will they make themselves strong ? Will they make offerings ? Will they get the work done in a day ? Will they make the stones that have been burned come again out of the dust ?« * Now Tobiah the Ammonite was with him , and he said : Such is their building that if a fox climbs to the top of it , their stonewall will be broken down . * Give ear , O our God , for we are ridiculed . Let their words of shame be turned back upon them , and let them be given up to plunder in a land where they are prisoners . * Do not let their wrongdoing be covered or their sin be washed away from before you : for they have made you angry before the builders . * So we went on building the wall . The entire wall was joined together halfway up . The people were working hard . * When the Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites , heard that the building of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the broken places were being made good , they were very angry . * All of them conspired to come and launch an attack on Jerusalem , causing trouble there . * We prayed to God and stationed men on watch against them day and night . * Judah said : »The strength of the workmen is giving way . There is a lot of rubbish so it is impossible for us to put up the wall .« * And our adversaries kept saying : »They will not know and they will not see until we come right in among them and put them to death . We will cause the work to cease .« * When the Jews who were living near them came , they said to us ten times : »From all directions they are coming against us .« * So in the lowest part of the space at the back of the walls , in the open places , I put the people by families , with their swords , their spears , and their bows . * And after looking , I got up and said to the great ones and to the chiefs and to the rest of the people , »Have no fear of them . Keep in mind Jehovah who is great and greatly to be feared . Take up arms for your brothers , your sons , and your daughters , your wives and your houses .« * When our enemies heard that we had knowledge of their designs and that God had made their purpose come to nothing , we all went back to the wall , everyone to his work . * From that time , half of my servants were doing their part of the work , and half kept the spears and body-covers and the bows and the metal wardresses . The leaders were in back of the men of Judah . * Those who were building the wall and those who were moving material did their part . Everyone worked with one hand and with his spear in the other . * Every builder was working with his sword at his side . By my side was a man for sounding the warning horn . * I said to the leaders and the rest of the people : »The work is extensive and widely spaced and we are far away from one another on the wall . * »Wherever you may be when the horn is sounded , come here to us . Our God will fight for us .« * So we went on with the work . Half of them had spears in their hands from the dawn of the morning till the stars were seen . * At the same time I said to the people : »Let everyone with his servant come inside Jerusalem for the night . At night they may keep watch for us , and go on working by day .« * Not one of us , I or my brothers or my servants or the watchmen who were with me , changed clothes . Everyone went armed to the water .

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