Neemias 4

1 When Sanballat found out that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious—really mad! He made fun of the Jews 2 in front of his colleagues and the army of Samaria, saying, "What are these useless Jews trying to achieve? Do they think they can rebuild the wall? Are they going to offer sacrifices? Are they going to finish it in a day? Do they think they can re-use stones from piles of rubble and dirt, especially since they’ve all been burned?"

3 Tobiah the Ammonite, standing beside him, commented, "Even a fox walking on what they’re building would knock down their wall of stones!"

4 I prayed, "Lord, please listen to us, because we are being treated with contempt. Rain down their insults on their own heads! Let them be taken away like plunder, prisoners in a foreign land! 5 Don’t forgive their guilt or blot out their sins, for they have made you angry in front of the builders."*4:5. "For they have made you angry in front of the builders": or, "for they have provoked the builders."

6 So we rebuilt the wall until it was all connected, reaching half its height, because the people were keen to work.