Then I realized that God had not sent him, but he spoke this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

When all our enemies heard about it, and all the [Gentile] nations around us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

“You saw our fathers’ affliction in Egypt,
And You heard their cry by the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).

In those days I saw some in Judah who were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves or sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I protested and warned them on the day they sold the produce.

In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.