| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. | 1 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, |
| 2And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? | 2saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” |
| 3Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. | 3Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” |
| 4Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: | 4Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! |
| 5And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. | 5Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.” |
| 6So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. | 6At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. |
| 7But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, | 7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious. |
| 8And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. | 8They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. |
| 9Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. | 9But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. |
| 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. | 10Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” |
| 11And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. | 11Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.” |
| 12And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you. | 12The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” |
| 13Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. | 13So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. |
| 14And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. | 14Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” |
| 15And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. | 15When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. |
| 16And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. | 16But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah |
| 17They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. | 17who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. |
| 18For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. | 18All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm. |
| 19And I said unto 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. | 19Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. |
| 20In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us. | 20When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!” |
| 21So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. | 21We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard. |
| 22Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day. | 22I also told everyone living outside the walls to stay in Jerusalem. That way they and their servants could help with guard duty at night and work during the day. |
| 23So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing. | 23During this time, none of us—not I, nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor the guards who were with me—ever took off our clothes. We carried our weapons with us at all times, even when we went for water. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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