5. Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.”
6. At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm.
7. But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious.
8. They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion.
9. But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
10. Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”
11. Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.”
12. The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!”
13. So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.