He spoke to his friends and the army of Samaria. He said,“ What are those Jews trying to do? Can they make their city wall like new again? Will they offer sacrifices? Can they finish everything in a single day? The stones from their city wall and buildings are piled up like trash. And everything has been badly burned. Can they use those stones to rebuild everything again?”

对他弟兄和撒玛利亚的军兵说：“这些软弱的犹大人做什么呢？要保护自己吗？要献祭吗？要一日成功吗？要从土堆里拿出火烧的石头再立墙吗？”

他对他的弟兄和撒玛利亚的军兵说：“这些软弱的犹太人做什么呢？要为自己重建吗？要献祭吗？要一日完工吗？要使土堆里火烧过的石头再有用吗？”

他对他的弟兄和撒玛利亚的军兵说：“这些软弱的犹太人做什么呢？要为自己重建吗？要献祭吗？要一日完工吗？要使土堆里火烧过的石头再有用吗？”

当着他的同僚和撒玛利亚军兵的面说：“这群弱小的犹太人在做什么呢？要重建城墙吗？要献祭吗？要在一日之间建好吗？要用废墟中烧过的石头来建造吗？”

在他的兄弟和撒玛利亚的军队面前，说：“这些软弱的犹大人在作什么呢？想自己修筑城墙吗？想要献祭吗？想要在一天之内完成吗？想要使废土堆中被火烧过的石头复活吗？”

對他弟兄和撒馬利亞的軍兵說：「這些軟弱的猶大人做甚麼呢？要保護自己嗎？要獻祭嗎？要一日成功嗎？要從土堆裏拿出火燒的石頭再立牆嗎？」

他對他的弟兄和撒瑪利亞的軍兵說：「這些軟弱的猶太人做甚麼呢？要為自己重建嗎？要獻祭嗎？要一日完工嗎？要使土堆裏火燒過的石頭再有用嗎？」

他對他的弟兄和撒瑪利亞的軍兵說：「這些軟弱的猶太人做甚麼呢？要為自己重建嗎？要獻祭嗎？要一日完工嗎？要使土堆裏火燒過的石頭再有用嗎？」

當著他的同僚和撒瑪利亞軍兵的面說：「這群弱小的猶太人在做什麼呢？要重建城牆嗎？要獻祭嗎？要在一日之間建好嗎？要用廢墟中燒過的石頭來建造嗎？」

在他的兄弟和撒瑪利亞的軍隊面前，說：“這些軟弱的猶大人在作甚麼呢？想自己修築城牆嗎？想要獻祭嗎？想要在一天之內完成嗎？想要使廢土堆中被火燒過的石頭復活嗎？”

他在他的族弟兄和撒瑪利亞的軍兵面前說：『嘿！這些衰弱憔悴的猶大人要作甚麼？他們要奮不顧身麼？要宰獻祭牲動工麼？要在一天之內就作完麼？他們要從塵土廢堆中拿火燒過的石頭把它重新建造起來麼？』

告其同宗、及撒瑪利亞軍旅曰、此荏弱之猶大人何為、豈欲自衛乎、豈欲獻祭乎、豈能一日成之乎、豈於瓦礫之場、復起被焚之石乎、

告其同宗及撒馬利亞軍旅、曰、此荏弱之猶大人何為、斯邑既燬、盡成瓦礫、彼乃欲復興工作、立竣厥工乎。吾儕豈容其建城獻祭哉。

謂其同族及撒瑪利亞軍旅曰、此荏弱之猶大人何為、國家豈容其建城乎、豈能復獻祭乎、豈能一日成功乎、豈能自土壘中出已燬之石、復立為垣乎、

and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said,“ What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble— burned as they are?”

And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria,“ What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”

saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers,“ What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap— and charred ones at that?”

before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria and said,“ What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy people of Samaria and said,“ What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the temple for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?”

And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said,“ What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish— stones that are burned?”

And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?

before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria, and said,“ What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

and in the presence of his colleagues and the army of Samaria he said,“ What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”

He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said,“ What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”

We, Rehum and Shimshai, are writing this letter. Rehum is the commanding officer. Shimshai is the secretary. Our friends join us in writing. They include the judges, officials and managers in charge of the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon. They are also over the Elamites from Susa.And they are over those who were forced to leave their countries. The great King Ashurbanipal, who is worthy of honor, forced them to leave. He moved them to the city of Samaria. He also moved them to other places west of the Euphrates River.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

During that time, the people in Judah spoke up. They said,“ The workers are getting weaker and weaker all the time. Broken stones are piled up everywhere. They are in our way. So we can’t rebuild the wall.”

Lord, I know how famous you are. I have great respect for you because of your mighty acts. Do them again for us. Make them known in our time. When you are angry, please have mercy on us.

The wall of Jerusalem was set apart to God. For that occasion, the Levites were gathered together from where they lived. They were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate that happy occasion. They celebrated the fact that the wall was being set apart to God. They did it by singing and giving their thanks to him. They celebrated by playing music on cymbals, harps and lyres.

On that day large numbers of sacrifices were offered. The people were glad because God had given them great joy. The women and children were also very happy. The joyful sound in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

The Lord asked me,“ Son of man, can these bones live?” I said,“ Lord and King, you are the only one who knows.”Then he said to me,“ Prophesy to these bones. Tell them,‘ Dry bones, listen to the Lord’ s message.The Lord and King speaks to you. He says,“ I will put breath in you. Then you will come to life again.I will attach tendons to you. I will put flesh on you. I will cover you with skin. So I will put breath in you. And you will come to life again. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”So I prophesied just as the Lord commanded me to. As I was prophesying, I heard a noise. It was a rattling sound. The bones came together. One bone connected itself to another.I saw tendons and flesh appear on them. Skin covered them. But there was no breath in them.Then the Lord said to me,“ Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell it,‘ The Lord and King says,“ Breath, come from all four directions. Go into these people who have been killed. Then they can live.” ’ ”So I prophesied just as he commanded me to. And breath entered them. Then they came to life again. They stood up on their feet. They were like a huge army.Then the Lord said to me,“ Son of man, these bones stand for all the people of Israel. The people say,‘ Our bones are dried up. We’ve lost all hope. We are destroyed.’So prophesy. Tell them,‘ The Lord and King says,“ My people, I am going to open up your graves. I am going to bring you out of them. I will take you back to the land of Israel.So I will open up your graves and bring you out of them. Then you will know that I am the Lord. You are my people.

So Jonathan and the young man let the soldiers in the Philistine camp see them.“ Look!” said the Philistines.“ Some of the Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.”The men in the Philistine camp shouted to Jonathan and the young man carrying his armor. They said,“ Come on up here. We’ll teach you a thing or two.” So Jonathan said to the young man,“ Climb up after me. The Lord has handed them over to Israel.”

At that time I will be like a shield to those who live in Jerusalem. Then even the weakest among them will be great warriors like David. And David’s family line will be like the angel of the Lord who leads them.

He said to David,“ Why are you coming at me with sticks? Do you think I’m only a dog?” The Philistine cursed David in the name of his gods.“ Come over here,” he said.“ I’ll feed your body to the birds and wild animals!”