Monday, February 10, 2025
Work Is Ridiculed
4 [a]Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the [b]wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the [c]dusty rubble even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox should [d]jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”
4 Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not [e]forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have [f]demoralized the builders.
6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a [g]mind to work.
7 [h]Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the [i]repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.
Discouragement Overcome
9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.
10 Thus [j]in Judah it was said,
“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much [k]rubbish;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”
11 Our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “[l]They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the [m]exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”
15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those 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. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while [n]the trumpeter stood near me. 19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, [o]rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from [p]dawn until the stars [q]appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 4:1 Ch 3:33 in Heb
- Nehemiah 4:2 Or army
- Nehemiah 4:2 Lit heaps of dust
- Nehemiah 4:3 Lit go up
- Nehemiah 4:5 Lit cover
- Nehemiah 4:5 Lit offended against
- Nehemiah 4:6 Lit heart
- Nehemiah 4:7 Ch 4:1 in Heb
- Nehemiah 4:7 Lit healing
- Nehemiah 4:10 Lit Judah said
- Nehemiah 4:10 Lit dust
- Nehemiah 4:12 So Gr; Heb omits they...up
- Nehemiah 4:13 Lit bare
- Nehemiah 4:18 Lit he who sounded the trumpet
- Nehemiah 4:20 Lit assemble yourselves
- Nehemiah 4:21 Lit rising of the dawn
- Nehemiah 4:21 Lit came out
Israel Encouraged
41 “Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,
And let the peoples gain new strength;
Let them come forward, then let them speak;
Let us come together for judgment.
2 “Who has aroused one from the east
Whom He calls in righteousness to His [a]feet?
He delivers up nations before him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.
3 “He pursues them, passing on in safety,
By a way he had not been [b]traversing with his feet.
4 “Who has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’”
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
The ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.
6 Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 So the craftsman encourages the smelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he fastens it with nails,
So that it will not totter.
8 “But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of Abraham My friend,
9 You whom I have [c]taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12 “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
13 “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
14 “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “[d]and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 “Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them,
And will make the hills like chaff.
16 “You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 “The [e]afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,
And their tongue is parched with thirst;
I, the Lord, will answer them Myself,
As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.
18 “I will open rivers on the bare heights
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water
And the dry land fountains of water.
19 “I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia and the myrtle and the [f]olive tree;
I will place the juniper in the desert
Together with the box tree and the cypress,
20 That they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 “[g]Present your case,” the Lord says.
“Bring forward your strong arguments,”
The King of Jacob says.
22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the former events, declare what they were,
That we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
24 Behold, you are of [h]no account,
And your work amounts to nothing;
He who chooses you is an abomination.
25 “I have aroused one from the north, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar,
Even as the potter treads clay.”
26 Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
Surely there was no one who declared,
Surely there was no one who proclaimed,
Surely there was no one who heard your words.
27 “Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’
28 “But when I look, there is no one,
And there is no counselor [i]among them
Who, if I ask, can give an answer.
29 “Behold, all of them are [j]false;
Their works are worthless,
Their molten images are wind and emptiness.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:2 Lit foot
- Isaiah 41:3 Lit going
- Isaiah 41:9 Or taken hold of
- Isaiah 41:14 Or even your Redeemer, the Holy One
- Isaiah 41:17 Or poor
- Isaiah 41:19 Or oleaster
- Isaiah 41:21 Lit Bring near
- Isaiah 41:24 Lit nothing
- Isaiah 41:28 Lit out of those
- Isaiah 41:29 Another reading is nothing