{[Chapter 3:33 in Hebrew]}But it came to pass that, when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? {Or, will they leave to themselves aught? Or, will men let them alone?}will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?
Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they are building, if a {Or, jackel}fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall.
Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn back their reproach upon their own head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity;
and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee; for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto half the height thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
{[Chapter 4:1 in Hebrew]}But it came to pass that, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that {Hebrew: healing went up upon the walls.}the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth;
and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein.
But we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.
And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come into the midst of them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
And it came to pass that, when the Jews that dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times {Or, From all places whence ye shall return they will be upon us}from all places, Ye must return unto us.
Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set there the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the {Or, deputies}rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
And 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.
And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind {Or, all the house of Judah that builded the wall. And they that &c.}all the house of Judah.
They all builded the wall and they that bare burdens laded themselves; every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other held his weapon;
and the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
And I said unto the nobles, and to the {Or, deputies}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:
in what place soever ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us; our God will fight for us.
So we wrought in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
Likewise 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 may labor in the day.
So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard that followed me, none of us put off our clothes, {The text is obscure.}every one went with his weapon to the water.
Querverweise zu Nehemia 4,14 Neh 4,14
Only rebel not against Jehovah, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their {Hebrew: shadow.}defence is removed from over them, and Jehovah is with us: fear them not.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;But we will make mention of the name of Jehovah our God.
and said, I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments:
Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good.
Behold, Jehovah thy God hath set the land before thee: go up, take possession, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.
And I said, {Or, This is my grief. That the right hand of the Most High doth change}This is my infirmity;But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.
I will make mention of the deeds of {Hebrew: Jah.}Jehovah;For I will remember thy wonders of old.
I will meditate also upon all thy work,And muse on thy doings.
Thy way, O God, is {Or, in holiness}in the sanctuary:Who is a great god like unto God?
Thou art the God that doest wonders:Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples.
Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people,The sons of Jacob and Joseph. [Selah
The waters saw thee, O God;The waters saw thee, they were {Or, were in pain}afraid:The depths also trembled.
The clouds poured out water;The skies sent out a sound:Thine arrows also went abroad.
The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind;The lightnings lightened the world:The earth trembled and shook.
Thy way was in the sea,And thy paths in the great waters,And thy footsteps were not known.
Thou leddest thy people like a flock,By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
For Jehovah your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the terrible, who regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.
Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
I remember the days of old;I meditate on all thy doings;I muse on the work of thy hands.
Out of the north cometh {Hebrew: gold.}golden splendor:God hath upon him terrible majesty.
Jehovah your God who goeth before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be made as grass;
By terrible things thou wilt answer us in righteousness,O God of our salvation,Thou that art the confidence of all the ends of the earth,And {Or, of the sea, afar off}of them that are afar off upon the sea:
and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint; fear not, nor tremble, neither be ye affrighted at them;
and hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, {Or, as though he made ready}when he maketh ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
Say unto God, How terrible are thy works!Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies {Or, yield feigned obedience Hebrew: lie.}submit themselves unto thee.
for Jehovah your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
{Or, Then his people remembered the ancient days of Moses &c.}Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the {Another reading is, shepherd.}shepherds of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?
that caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? that divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
that led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they stumbled not?
Come, and see the works of God;He is terrible in his doing toward the children of men.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for Jehovah thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might {Or, flow down}quake at thy presence, {[Chapter 64:1 in Hebrew]}
as when fire kindleth the brushwood, and the fire causeth the waters to boil; to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains quaked at thy presence.
and he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat: Thus saith Jehovah unto you, Fear not ye, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
To-morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed: to-morrow go out against them: for Jehovah is with you.
Jehovah is a jealous God and avengeth; Jehovah avengeth and is full of wrath; Jehovah taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear the guilty: Jehovah hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is upheaved at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him.
Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that take refuge in him.
Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him; for {Or, there are more}there is a greater with us than with him:
for they could not endure that which was enjoined, {Exodus 19:12 f.}If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned;
A Psalm of David.Jehovah is my light and my salvation;Whom shall I fear?Jehovah is the {Or, stronghold}strength of my life;Of whom shall I be afraid?
and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, {Deuteronomy 9:19.}I exceedingly fear and quake:
Jehovah of hosts is with us;The God of Jacob is our {Or, high tower}refuge. [Selah
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have {Or, thankfulness Compare 1 Corinthians 10:30.}grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with {Or, godly fear Compare chapter 5:7.}reverence and awe:
fear thou not, for I am with thee; {Or, look not around thee}be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be put to shame and confounded: they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and {Or, thy Redeemer, the Holy One &c.}thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
for our God is a consuming fire.
And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in {Greek: Gehenna.}hell.
So that with good courage we say, {Psalm 118:6.}The Lord is my helper; I will not fear:What shall man do unto me?