Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
Parallel translations
- WEB But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
- KJV Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
- BSB So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.
- NASB But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.
- NLT But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
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 and the people respond to the threat by both praying and posting a watch. They trust God while taking practical precautions.
Overview
This verse models the balance of faith and diligence: "we made our prayer" and "set a watch." Dependence on God does not cancel responsible action, nor does effort replace prayer. This wisdom anticipates the gospel pattern of resting wholly in Christ's finished work while laboring faithfully in His strength.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Pet 5:8Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- Ps 50:15Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
- Acts 4:24–30When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
- Luke 21:36Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
- Luke 6:11–12But they were filled with rage, and talked with one another about what they might do to Jesus.
- Matt 26:41Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
- Gen 32:28He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
- 2 Kgs 19:14–19Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to Yahweh’s house, and spread it before Yahweh.
- Neh 4:11Our adversaries said, “They will not know or see, until we come in among them and kill them, and cause the work to cease.”
- Ps 55:16–22As for me, I will call on God. Yahweh will save me.
- Gen 32:9–12Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:9 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.