Nehemiah 4:5

5 cover thou not the wickedness of them, and their sins be not done away before thy face; for they scorned the builders.

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 And also Tobiah (the) Ammonite, his neighbour, said, Build they; if a fox go up, he shall over-leap their stone wall. (And Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, Let them build; for if a fox shall go up there, he shall just leap over their stone wall.)

4 And Nehemiah said (in prayer), Our God, hear thou, for we be made despising (for we be despised); turn thou the shame upon their own head(s), and give thou them into despising in the land of captivity;

5 cover thou not the wickedness of them, and their sins be not done away before thy face; for they scorned the builders.

6 Therefore we builded the wall, and joined together all till to the half part, and the heart of the people was excited to work. (And so we rebuilt the wall, and joined it all together, up to half of its height, and the hearts of the people were excited to do this work.)

7 And it was done when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Arabians, and Ammonites, and men of Ashdod had heard, that the breaking of the wall of Jerusalem was stopped, and that the crazings had begun to be closed together, they were full wroth. (And when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabs, and the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod had heard, that the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem was progressing, and that the gaps had begun to be closed, they were very angry.)