Nehemiah Chapter 4 verse 4 Holy Bible
Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn back their reproach upon their own head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity;
read chapter 4 in ASV
Give ear, O our God, for we are looked down on: let their words of shame be turned back on themselves, and let them be given up to wasting in a land where they are prisoners:
read chapter 4 in BBE
Hear, our God, for we are despised, and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in a land of captivity!
read chapter 4 in DARBY
Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:
read chapter 4 in KJV
Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:
read chapter 4 in WBT
Hear, our God; for we are despised: and turn back their reproach on their own head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity;
read chapter 4 in WEB
Hear, O our God, for we have been despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, and give them for a spoil in a land of captivity;
read chapter 4 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 4. - Hear, O our God. Compare Ezra's parenthetic burst of thanksgiving (Ezra 7:27, 28). That which in Ezra was a sudden impulse has become a settled habit with Nehemiah (comp. Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 6:9, 14; Nehemiah 13:14, 22, 29, 31). Turn their reproach upon their own head. The imprecations of Nehemiah are no pattern to Christians, any more than are those of the Psalmists (Psalm 69:22-28; Psalm 79:12; Psalm 109:6-20, etc.); but it cannot be denied that they are imprecations. Before men were taught to "love their enemies," and "bless those that cursed them" (Matthew 5:44), they gave vent to their natural feelings of anger and indignation by the utterance of maledictions. Nehemiah's spirit was hot and hasty; and as he records of himself (Nehemiah 13:25) that he "cursed" certain Jews who had taken foreign wives, so it is not to be wondered at that he uttered imprecations against his persistent enemies.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(4) Hear, O our God.--The habit of Nehemiah is to turn everything to devotion as he goes on. This prayer is full of an angry jealousy for the honour of a jealous God.They have provoked thee.--The tone of its holy revenge pervades the Old Testament, and has not altogether departed in the New.
