and in the presence of his colleagues and the army of Samaria he said,“What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
1Opposition to the Work Continues(3:33) Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was quite upset. He derided the Jews,
3Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said,“If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”
4Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!
16The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing, for up to this point I had not told any of the Jews or the priests or the nobles or the officials or the rest of the workers.
17Then I said to them,“You see the problem that we have: Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned. Come on! Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that this reproach will not continue.”
18Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what the king had said to me. Then they replied,“Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” So they readied themselves for this good project.
19But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said,“What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
20I responded to them by saying,“The God of heaven will prosper us. We his servants will start the rebuilding. But you have no just or ancient right in Jerusalem.”
6So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. The people were enthusiastic in their work.
7(4:1) When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem had moved ahead and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they were very angry.
8All of them conspired together to move with armed forces against Jerusalem and to create a disturbance in it.
9So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard to protect against them both day and night.
10Then those in Judah said,“The strength of the laborers has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”
11Our adversaries also boasted,“Before they are aware or anticipate anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”
12So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly about all the schemes they were plotting against us.
13So I stationed people at the lower places behind the wall in the exposed places. I stationed the people by families, with their swords, spears, and bows.
14When I had 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 awesome Lord, and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!”
15It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work.
12Now let the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and odious city. They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations.
13Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury will suffer loss.
6Written in it were the following words:“Among the nations it is rumored(and Geshem has substantiated this) that you and the Jews have intentions of revolting, and for this reason you are building the wall. Furthermore, according to these rumors you are going to become their king.
8Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.
9We inquired of those elders, asking them,‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?’
2Hanani, who was one of my relatives, along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem.
3They said to me,“The remnant that remains from the exile there in the province are experiencing considerable adversity and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem lies breached, and its gates have been burned down!”
3At that time Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues came to them and asked,“Who gave you authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?”
4They also asked them,“What are the names of the men who are building this edifice?”
17who were rebuilding the wall. Those who were carrying loads did so by keeping one hand on the work and the other on their weapon.
18The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter remained with me.
19I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people,“The work is demanding and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far removed from one another.
1Opposition to the Rebuilding Efforts Continues When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and no breach remained in it(even though up to that time I had not positioned doors in the gates),
2Sanballat and Geshem sent word to me saying,“Come on! Let’s set up a time to meet together at Kephirim in the plain of Ono.” Now they intended to do me harm.
4Then the local people began to discourage the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.
1Opposition to the Building Efforts When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles were building a temple for the LORD God of Israel,
2they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders and said to them,“Let us help you build, for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him from the time of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”
14Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat in light of these actions of theirs– also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who were trying to scare me!
15The Rebuilding of the Wall Is Finally Completed So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in just fifty-two days.
16When all our enemies heard and all the nations who were around us saw this, they were greatly disheartened. They knew that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.
10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard all this, they were very displeased that someone had come to seek benefit for the Israelites.
23Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem and stopped them with threat of armed force.
8I said to them,“To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.
18They called out loudly in the Judahite dialect to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, trying to scare and terrify them so they could seize the city.
11They responded to us in the following way:‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the temple which was previously built many years ago. A great king of Israel built it and completed it.
15so that he may initiate a search of the records of his predecessors and discover in those records that this city is rebellious and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts from long ago. It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.
16We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”
4with three layers of large stones and one layer of timber. The expense is to be subsidized by the royal treasury.
7Leave the work on this temple of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this temple of God in its proper place.
9Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us to restore the temple of our God and to raise up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
21But I warned them and said,“Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you repeat this, I will forcibly remove you!” From that time on they did not show up on the Sabbath.
3‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple? How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison?’”