¹⁷ The people who were building the wall and those who were carrying the materials for building were doing their work with one hand, while the other hand held a weapon. ¹⁸ As they built, the builders were armed, each man with his sword on his hip. The man who sounded the ram’s horn was next to me.

¹⁹ Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “There is a lot of work, and it is spread out, and we are separated along the wall—all the people are far away from each other.