Nehemiah 4:5

5 ne operias iniquitatem eorum et peccatum eorum coram facie tua non deleatur quia inriserunt aedificantes

Nehemiah 4:5 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 4:5

And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted
out from before thee
Let it not go unpunished, and even let it not be pardoned; which is spoken, not from a private spirit of revenge, but from a public spirit for the glory of God, and his justice; and not as a mere imprecation, but as a prophecy of what would be the case, in like manner as many of David's petitions in the Psalms; and for this there was a good foundation, since God had threatened the Moabites and Ammonites with utter destruction:

for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders;
by despising his people, and mocking at the work the Lord had called them to; and this they did publicly, and on purpose to discourage the workmen.

Nehemiah 4:5 In-Context

3 sed et Tobias Ammanites proximus eius ait aedificent si ascenderit vulpis transiliet murum eorum lapideum

4 audi Deus noster quia facti sumus despectio converte obprobrium super caput eorum et da eos in despectionem in terra captivitatis

5 ne operias iniquitatem eorum et peccatum eorum coram facie tua non deleatur quia inriserunt aedificantes

6 itaque aedificavimus murum et coniunximus totum usque ad partem dimidiam et provocatum est cor populi ad operandum

7 factum est autem cum audisset Sanaballat et Tobias et Arabes et Ammanitae et Azotii quod obducta esset cicatrix muri Hierusalem et quod coepissent interrupta concludi irati sunt nimis