Nehemiah 4 (MSG)

¹When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he exploded in anger, vilifying the Jews.

²In the company of his Samaritan cronies and military he let loose: "What are these miserable Jews doing? Do they think they can get everything back to normal overnight? Make building stones out of make-believe?"

³At his side, Tobiah the Ammonite jumped in and said, "That's right! What do they think they're building? Why, if a fox climbed that wall, it would fall to pieces under his weight."

⁴Nehemiah prayed, "Oh listen to us, dear God. We're so despised: Boomerang their ridicule on their heads; have their enemies cart them off as war trophies to a land of no return;

⁵don't forgive their iniquity, don't wipe away their sin—they've insulted the builders!"

⁶We kept at it, repairing and rebuilding the wall. The whole wall was soon joined together and halfway to its intended height because the people had a heart for the work.

⁷When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairs of the walls of Jerusalem were going so well—that the breaks in the wall were being fixed—they were absolutely furious.

⁸They put their heads together and decided to fight against Jerusalem and create as much trouble as they could.

⁹We countered with prayer to our God and set a round-the-clock guard against them.

¹⁰But soon word was going around in Judah, The builders are pooped, the rubbish piles up; We're in over our heads, we can't build this wall.

¹¹And all this time our enemies were saying, "They won't know what hit them. Before they know it we'll be at their throats, killing them right and left. That will put a stop to the work!"

¹²The Jews who were their neighbors kept reporting, "They have us surrounded; they're going to attack!" If we heard it once, we heard it ten times.

¹³So I stationed armed guards at the most vulnerable places of the wall and assigned people by families with their swords, lances, and bows.

¹⁴After looking things over I stood up and spoke to the nobles, officials, and everyone else: "Don't be afraid of them. Put your minds on the Master, great and awesome, and then fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes."

¹⁵Our enemies learned that we knew all about their plan and that God had frustrated it. And we went back to the wall and went to work.

¹⁶From then on half of my young men worked while the other half stood guard with lances, shields, bows, and mail armor. Military officers served as backup for everyone in Judah who was at work rebuilding the wall.

¹⁷The common laborers held a tool in one hand and a spear in the other.

¹⁸Each of the builders had a sword strapped to his side as he worked. I kept the trumpeter at my side to sound the alert.

¹⁹Then I spoke to the nobles and officials and everyone else: "There's a lot of work going on and we are spread out all along the wall, separated from each other.

²⁰When you hear the trumpet call, join us there; our God will fight for us."

²¹And so we kept working, from first light until the stars came out, half of us holding lances.

²²I also instructed the people, "Each person and his helper is to stay inside Jerusalem—guards by night and workmen by day."

²³We all slept in our clothes—I, my brothers, my workmen, and the guards backing me up. And each one kept his spear in his hand, even when getting water.