Nehemiah 4:16-23

16From that day on, half of my men worked on the wall, and the other half were wearing body armor and holding spears, shields, and bows. The leaders stood behind all the Judeans

17who were rebuilding the wall. The workers who were carrying loads did the work with one hand and held their weapons with the other,

18and each builder had his sword fastened to his side. The man who was supposed to sound the trumpet alarm was with me.

19I told the nobles, the leaders, and the rest of the people, “So much work has to be done in different places that we are widely separated from one another on the wall.

20When you hear the trumpet, assemble around me. Our God will fight for us!”

21So we continued to work. Half of us held spears from early dawn until the stars came out.

22At that time I told the people, “Every man and his servant should stay overnight in Jerusalem so that we can set a guard at night and work during the day.”

23My brothers, my servants, and the guards assigned to me never changed their clothes. Neither did I. We each kept our weapons at hand.