1
When Sanballat heard that we Jews had begun rebuilding the wall, he became furious and began to ridicule us.
2
In front of his companions and the Samaritan troops he said, "What do these miserable Jews think they're doing? Do they intend to rebuild the city? Do they think that by offering sacrifices they can finish the work in one day? Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt rubble?"
3
Tobiah was standing there beside him, and he added, "What kind of wall could they ever build? Even a fox could knock it down!"
4
I prayed, "Hear how they make fun of us, O God! Let their ridicule fall on their own heads. Let them be robbed of everything they have, and let them be taken as prisoners to a foreign land.
5
Don't forgive the evil they do and don't forget their sins, for they have insulted us who are building."
6
So we went on rebuilding the wall, and soon it was half its full height, because the people were eager to work.
7
Sanballat, Tobiah, and the people of Arabia, Ammon, and Ashdod heard that we were making progress in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and that the gaps in the wall were being closed, and they became very angry.
8
So they all plotted together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion,
9
but we prayed to our God and kept men on guard against them day and night.