Nehemiah · Bible in Basic English
Nehemiah 4 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Now, Sanballat, hearing that we were building the wall, was very angry, and in his wrath made sport of the Jews.
1 But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews.
2 And in the hearing of his countrymen and the army of Samaria he said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will they make themselves strong? will they make offerings? will they get the work done in a day? will they make the stones which have been burned come again out of the dust?
2 He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Such is their building that if a fox goes up it, their stone wall will be broken down.
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.”
4 Give ear, O our God, for we are looked down on: let their words of shame be turned back on themselves, and let them be given up to wasting in a land where they are prisoners:
4 “Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn back their reproach on their own head. Give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity.
5 Let not their wrongdoing be covered or their sin washed away from before you: for they have made you angry before the builders.
5 Don’t cover their iniquity. Don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”
6 So we went on building the wall; and all the wall was joined together half-way up: for the people were working hard.
6 So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
7 But when it came to the ears of Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, that the building of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the broken places were being made good, they were full of wrath;
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, they were very angry;
8 And they made designs, all of them together, to come and make an attack on Jerusalem, causing trouble there.
8 and they all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion among us.
9 But we made our prayer to God, and had men on watch against them day and night because of them.
9 But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night because of them.
10 And Judah said, The strength of the workmen is giving way, and there is much waste material; it is impossible for us to put up the wall.
10 Judah said, “The strength of the bearers of burdens is fading and there is much rubble, so that we are not able to build the wall.”
11 And those who were against us said, Without their knowledge and without their seeing us, we will come among them and put them to death, causing the work to come to a stop.
11 Our adversaries said, “They will not know or see, until we come in among them and kill them, and cause the work to cease.”
12 And it came about that when the Jews who were living near them came, they said to us ten times, From all directions they are coming against us.
12 When the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
13 So in the lowest part of the space at the back of the walls, in the open places, I put the people by families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
13 Therefore I set guards in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places. I set the people by family groups with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 And after looking, I got up and said to the great ones and to the chiefs and to the rest of the people, Have no fear of them: keep in mind the Lord who is great and greatly to be feared, and take up arms for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your houses.
14 I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t 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.”
15 And when it came to the ears of those who were against us, that we had knowledge of their designs and that God had made their purpose come to nothing, we all went back to the wall, everyone to his work
15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.
16 And from that time, half of my servants were doing their part of the work, and half kept the spears and body-covers and the bows and the metal war-dresses; and the chiefs were at the back of the men of Judah.
16 From that time forth, half of my servants did the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.
17 Those who were building the wall and those who were moving material did their part, everyone working with one hand, with his spear in the other;
17 Those who built the wall, and those who bore burdens loaded themselves; everyone with one of his hands did the work, and with the other held his weapon.
18 Every builder was working with his sword at his side. And by my side was a man for sounding the horn.
18 Among the builders, everyone wore his sword at his side, and so built. He who sounded the trumpet was by me.
19 And I said to the great ones and the chiefs and the rest of the people, The work is great and widely spaced and we are far away from one another on the wall:
19 I said to the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread out, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.
20 Wherever you may be when the horn is sounded, come here to us; our God will be fighting for us.
20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally there to us. Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we went on with the work: and half of them had spears in their hands from the dawn of the morning till the stars were seen.
21 So we did the work. Half of the people held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.
22 And at the same time I said to the people, Let everyone with his servant come inside Jerusalem for the night, so that at night they may keep watch for us, and go on working by day.
22 Likewise at the same time I said to the people, “Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day.”
23 So not one of us, I or my brothers or my servants or the watchmen who were with me, took off his clothing, everyone went armed to the water.
23 So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes. Everyone took his weapon to the water.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Sanballat
Sanballat the Horonite, who mocked, plotted against, and tried to lure Nehemiah during the wall building; one of the high priest’s grandsons became his son-in-law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:1
Tobiah
Ammonite official who jeered at the wall, sent intimidating letters, had ties of marriage and oath among Judah’s nobles, and was given a temple storeroom by Eliashib until…
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 4:3; Nehemiah 6:17
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Nehemiah 2:10; Hebrews 11:36; Psalm 35:15–16; Acts 5:17; Nehemiah 2:19
- 2 1 Corinthians 1:27; Ezra 4:9–10; Nehemiah 4:10; Zechariah 12:8; 1 Samuel 17:43–44
- 3 Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 2:10; 1 Kings 20:10; 1 Kings 20:18; 2 Kings 18:23
- 4 Psalm 79:12; Psalm 123:3–4; Proverbs 3:34; Hosea 12:14; 1 Samuel 17:26
- 5 Psalm 109:14; Jeremiah 18:23; Psalm 69:27–28; Isaiah 44:22; 2 Timothy 4:14
- 6 Philippians 2:13; 1 Chronicles 29:3; Hebrews 13:21; Nehemiah 6:15; 1 Chronicles 29:17–18
- 7 Nehemiah 4:1; Nehemiah 2:10; Jeremiah 25:20; Amos 1:13; Revelation 12:17
- 8 Psalm 83:3–11; Jeremiah 20:10; Isaiah 8:9–10; Acts 23:12–13; Psalm 2:1–3
- 9 1 Peter 5:8; Psalm 50:15; Acts 4:24–30; Matthew 26:41; Luke 6:11–12
- 10 Haggai 1:2; Numbers 32:9; 2 Chronicles 2:18; Numbers 13:31; Psalm 11:1–2
- 11 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Psalm 56:6; Judges 20:29–48; Acts 23:21; Acts 23:12
- 12 Numbers 14:22; Genesis 31:41; Genesis 31:7; Job 19:3
- 13 Nehemiah 4:17–18; Ephesians 6:11–20; Genesis 32:13–20; 2 Chronicles 32:2–8; Matthew 10:16
- 14 2 Samuel 10:12; Numbers 14:9; Isaiah 41:10–14; Hebrews 13:6; Psalm 66:3
- 15 2 Samuel 17:14; Romans 12:11; Psalm 33:10–11; Isaiah 44:25; Job 5:12–13
- 16 Nehemiah 4:23; Nehemiah 5:15–16; Psalm 101:6
- 17 2 Timothy 2:3; 2 Timothy 4:7; 2 Corinthians 6:7; Ephesians 6:11–20; 1 Corinthians 16:9
- 18 Numbers 10:9; 2 Chronicles 13:12–17
- 20 Exodus 14:14; Deuteronomy 20:4; Deuteronomy 1:30; Joshua 23:10; Deuteronomy 3:22
- 21 Galatians 6:9; Colossians 1:29
- 22 Nehemiah 11:1–2
- 23 Nehemiah 5:16; Nehemiah 7:2; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Judges 5:11; Judges 9:48
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences