3. Tobiah from Ammon was standing beside Sanballat and said, “Look at the wall they are building! Why, even a fox could knock over this pile of stones.”
4. But I prayed, “Our God, these people hate us and have wished horrible things for us. Please answer our prayers and make their insults fall on them! Let them be the ones to be dragged away as prisoners of war.
5. Don't forgive the mean and evil way they have insulted the builders.”
6. The people worked hard, and we built the walls of Jerusalem halfway up again.
7. But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from the city of Ashdod saw the walls going up and the holes being repaired. So they became angry
8. and decided to stir up trouble, and to fight against the people of Jerusalem.
9. But we kept on praying to our God, and we also stationed guards day and night.
10. Meanwhile, the people of Judah were singing a sorrowful song:“So much rubble for us to haul!Worn out and weary,will we ever finish this wall?”
11. Our enemies were saying, “Before those Jews know what has happened, we will sneak up and kill them and put an end to their work.”
12. On at least ten different occasions, the Jews living near our enemies warned us against attacks from every side,