Neemias 4

Work Is Ridiculed

1 * 4:1 Ch 3:33 in Heb Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the *4:2 Or armywealthy people of Samaria and said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the temple for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?" 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, "Even what they are building—if a fox were to *4:3 Lit go upjump on it, it would break their stone wall down!"

4 Hear, O our God, how we are an object of contempt! Return their taunting on their own heads, and turn them into plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not *4:5 Lit coverforgive their guilt and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have *4:5 Lit offended againstdemoralized the builders.

6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a *4:6 Lit heartmind to work.