American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
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.
Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto {Hebrew: Messiah.}the anointed one, the prince, shall be {Or, seven weeks: and threescore and two weeks, it shall be &c.}seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
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 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?
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.
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.
{[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.
and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein.
and showedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land; for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them, and didst get thee a name, as it is this day.
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;
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.
{Or, Henceforth}Finally, {Greek: be made powerful.}be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For our wrestling is not against {Greek: blood and flesh.}flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the {Greek: good tidings. See Matthew 4:23 margin.}gospel of peace;
withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints,
Some also there were that said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses: let us get grain, because of the dearth.
Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards.
If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
And if thy brother be waxed poor, and his hand fail with thee; then thou shalt {Or, relieve}uphold him: as a stranger and a sojourner shall he live with thee.
Take thou no interest of him or increase, but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor give him thy victuals for increase.
I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
And if thy brother be waxed poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee; thou shalt not make him to serve as a bond-servant.
As a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee; he shall serve with thee unto the year of jubilee:
then shall he go out from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.
For they are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.
Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear thy God.
Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the {Or, deputies}rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I held a great assembly against them.
And I said unto them, We after our ability have {Hebrew: bought.}redeemed our brethren the Jews, that were sold unto the nations; and would ye even sell your brethren, and should they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found never a word.
Also I said, The thing that ye do is not good: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?
And I likewise, my brethren and my servants, do lend them money and grain. I pray you, let us leave off this usury.
Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their fields, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.
Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, even as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they would do according to this promise.
Also I shook out my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that performeth not this promise; even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the assembly said, Amen, and praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.
Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.
But the former governors that were before me {Or, laid burdens upon}were chargeable unto the people, and took of them bread and wine, {Or, at the rate of Or, afterward}besides forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants {Or, lorded over}bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this I demanded not the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.
Moreover there were at my table, of the Jews and the {Or, deputies}rulers, a hundred and fifty men, besides those that came unto us from among the nations that were round about us.
Yea, also I {Hebrew: held fast to.}continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work.
Now it came to pass, when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah, and to Geshem the Arabian, and unto the rest of our enemies, that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein (though even unto that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),
that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.
And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
And they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.
that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.
And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
And they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.
Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand,
wherein was written, It is reported among the nations, and {In er. 1 and elsewhere Geshem.}Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel; for which cause thou art building the wall: and thou wouldest be their king, according to these words.
And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.
Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.
For they all would have made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. But now, {Or, I will strengthen my hands}O God, strengthen thou my hands.
Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto {Or, wrath}the wrath of God: for it is written, {Deuteronomy 32:35}Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord.
And I went unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.
And I discerned, and, lo, God had not sent him; but he pronounced this prophecy against me: and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.