Nehemiah 4 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he flew into a rage. He mocked the Jewish people

in front of his associates and the Samaritan army. He said, "What are these pathetic Jews doing? Are they going to restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring these burned stones back to life from piles of rubble?"

Tobiah the Ammonite, standing next to him, said, "Whatever they're building — if a fox climbed up on it, it would break down their stone wall!"

"Listen, our God — we're being treated with contempt. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Hand them over as plunder in a land of captivity.

Don't cover over their guilt, and don't let their failures against you be wiped from your sight, because they've provoked the builders right to their faces."

So we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together at half its height, because the people had the heart to work.

But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls were progressing and the gaps were being closed, they were furious.

They all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw it into chaos.

But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet the threat.

Meanwhile, the people of Judah were saying, "The laborers are running out of strength, and there's so much rubble. We can't rebuild the wall."

And our enemies were saying, "Before they know it or see us, we'll be right among them. We'll kill them and stop the work."

The Jews living near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they'll attack us."

So I stationed people behind the lowest points of the wall, at the exposed spots. I positioned them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.

After looking things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awe-inspiring, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes."

When our enemies heard that we knew about their plan and that God had frustrated it, we all went back to the wall, each to their own work.

From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and wore armor. The officials stood behind all the people of Judah.

Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon with the other.

Each of the builders wore his sword strapped to his side as he worked. And the man who sounded the trumpet stayed right next to me.

I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, "The work is massive and spread out, and we're scattered along the wall, far from each other.

Wherever you hear the trumpet sound, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us."

So we carried on with the work, with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars came out.

At that time I also said to the people, "Every man and his servant should spend the night inside Jerusalem so they can serve as guards by night and workers by day."

Neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the guards with me — none of us took off our clothes. Each one kept his weapon, even when going for water.