don’t cover their iniquity, and don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”
Parallel translations
- KJV And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
- BSB Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.
- NKJV Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.
- NASB Do not forgive their guilt and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have demoralized the builders.
- NLT Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Nehemiah prays that God would not overlook the enemies' guilt, since they have insulted the builders—and thus God Himself. He sees the opposition as an affront to the Lord.
Overview
Continuing his prayer, Nehemiah asks that the adversaries' sin not be blotted out, recognizing that to mock God's work is to provoke God directly. Such imprecatory petitions, found also in the Psalms, are pleas for divine justice against persistent, hardened enemies of God's purposes. Faithful readers note that these prayers leave vengeance to God, while the New Testament also calls believers to love and pray for their enemies, trusting the Lord as the righteous Judge.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 109:14Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by Yahweh. Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
- Jer 18:23Yet, Yahweh, you know all their counsel against me to kill me. Don’t forgive their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from your sight; but let them be overthrown before you. Deal you with them in the time of your anger.
- Ps 69:27–28Charge them with crime upon crime. Don’t let them come into your righteousness.
- 2 Tim 4:14Alexander, the coppersmith, did much evil to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds,
- Isa 44:22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
- Isa 43:25I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
- Ps 51:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
- Ps 59:5–13You, Yahweh God of Armies, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah.
- Ps 51:9Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.
- Isa 36:11–12Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and don’t speak to us in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 4:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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