1But it happened that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and greatly enraged, and mocked the Jews. 2And he spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they finish in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned? 3Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they are building, if a fox goes up, he shall break down their stone wall. 4Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn back their reproach upon their own head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity; 5and do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have provoked you to anger before the builders. 6So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height: for the people had a mind to work. 7But it happened that, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very angry; 8and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion in it. 9But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. 10And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. 11And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come into the midst of them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. 12And it happened that, when the Jews who dwelt by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, You must return to us. 13Therefore I set in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set there the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14And I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. 15And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, every one to his work. 16And it happened from that time forth, that half of my servants worked in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. 17Those who built the wall and those who bore burdens loaded themselves; every one with one of his hands worked in the work, and with the other held his weapon; 18and the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so built. And he who sounded the trumpet was by me. 19And I said to the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another: 20in whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally there to us; our God will fight for us. 21So we worked in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. 22Likewise at the same time I said to the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day. 23So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard that followed me, none of us put off our clothes, every one went with his weapon to the water.