Nehemiah 4:1-6

Sanballat and Tobiah Mock the Jews’ Work

¹Now it happened that when ^aSanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and very vexed and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and ^athe ¹wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they complete it in a day? Can they bring the stones to life from the ²^bdusty rubble, though they are burned?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—^aif a fox should ¹jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”
4 ^aHear, O our God, for we are despised! ^bReturn their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not ¹^aforgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have ²vexed the builders.
6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, and the people had a heart to work.