Nehemiah 4:11-23
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 4
11And our enemies said, 'They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.' 12When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, 'They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,' 13then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: 'Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.'
15Now when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.
16And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah.
17Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon.
18As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.
19And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, 'The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another.
20At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble to us there. Our God will fight for us.'
21So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared.
22At that time I also said to the people, 'Each man with his servant shall spend the night within Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.'
23So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me—none of us removed our clothes; each took his weapon even to the water.
King James Version
Chapter 4
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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.
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.
18For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
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.
20In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall 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.
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.
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.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 4
11And our enemies said, "They won't realize it until we're among them and can kill them and stop the work." 12When the Jews who lived nearby arrived, they said to us time and again, "Everywhere you turn, they attack us." 13So I stationed people behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14After I made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes."
15When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall.
16From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah,
17who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.
18Each of the builders had his sword strapped around his waist while he was building, and the one who sounded the ram's horn was beside me.
19Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, "The work is enormous and spread out, and we are separated far from one another along the wall.
20Wherever you hear the sound of the ram's horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us! "
21So we continued the work, while half of the men were holding spears from daybreak until the stars came out.
22At that time, I also said to the people, "Let everyone and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day."
23And I, my brothers, my servants, and the men of the guard with me never took off our clothes. Each carried his weapon, even when washing.
New Living Translation
12The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, 'They will come from all directions and attack us!'
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.
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.
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
17who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon.
18All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.
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.
20When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!'
21We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard.
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.
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.
English Standard Version
Chapter 4
11And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 12At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” 13So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
15When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.
16From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah,
17who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.
18And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
19And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.
20In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
21So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
22I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.”
23So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.
New International Version
13Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.
14After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, 'Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.'
16From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah
17who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other,
18and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.
19Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, 'The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall.
20Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!'
21So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out.
22At that time I also said to the people, 'Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and as workers by day.'
23Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.
New King James Version
13Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.
16So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.
17Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.
18Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
19Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall.
20Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
21So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared.
22At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.”
23So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.