…every day, from dawn until the stars came out at night, half of us worked on the wall, while the other half stood guard with spears. …I didn’t take off my clothes even at night, neither did any of my companions nor my servants nor my bodyguards. And we all kept our weapons at hand.
There will always be those who make the work more difficult (Hebrews 13:17).
I called in the priests and made the leaders swear in front of them to keep the promise they had just made. Then I took off the sash I was wearing around my waist and shook it out. “This is how God will shake any of you who don’t keep your promise,” I said.
A big step down from the punishment described in Genesis 15:8-21. 😁
I put all my energy into rebuilding the wall and did not acquire any property. Everyone who worked for me joined in the rebuilding. …I did not claim the allowance that the governor is entitled to.
Likewise I put all my energy into the work and have never exploited my authority, Lord. May that always be the case.
I pray you, O God, remember to my credit everything that I have done for this people.
May I find favor in your eyes, Lord (Luke 19:16-17): the opportunity to serve.
They were trying to frighten us into stopping work. I prayed, “But now, God, make me strong!”
May I hold firm, Father. Make me strong (Joshua 1:5-9).
When I thought it over, I realized that God had not spoken to Shemaiah, but that Tobiah and Sanballat had bribed him to give me this warning. They hired him to frighten me into sinning, so that they could ruin my reputation and humiliate me.
Please give me the discernment that I so desperately need, Lord (Psalm 91:13).
They asked Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law which the Lord had given Israel through Moses, to get the book of the Law. So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered—men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand. There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively.
Better than the young man in Acts 20:7-12. 😊
They gave an oral translation of God’s Law and explained it so that the people could understand it.
The language of the Old Testament was no longer that of the people here.