" Strategies of War "
Nehemiah 4 (NASB)
1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews.2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy 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 finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble even the burned ones?3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, Even what they are building--if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!4 Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity.5 Do not forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have demoralized the builders.6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry.8 All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.10 Thus in Judah it was said, The strength of the burden bearers is failing, Yet there is much rubbish; And we ourselves are unable To rebuild the wall.11 Our enemies said, They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows.14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon.18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another.20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared.22 At that time I also said to the people, Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.
Daniel 9 (NASB)
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans--2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,5 we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.6 Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land.7 Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day--to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.8 Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.9 To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.11 Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him.12 Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth.14 Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.15 And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day--we have sinned, we have been wicked.16 O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.17 So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.23 At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.24 Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.
1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews.2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy 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 finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble even the burned ones?3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, Even what they are building--if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!4 Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity.5 Do not forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have demoralized the builders.6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry.8 All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.10 Thus in Judah it was said, The strength of the burden bearers is failing, Yet there is much rubbish; And we ourselves are unable To rebuild the wall.11 Our enemies said, They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows.14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon.18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another.20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared.22 At that time I also said to the people, Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.
Daniel 9 (NASB)
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans--2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,5 we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.6 Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land.7 Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day--to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.8 Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.9 To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.11 Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him.12 Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth.14 Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.15 And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day--we have sinned, we have been wicked.16 O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.17 So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.23 At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.24 Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.