Translations
KJVPrimary
King James VersionAnd Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.
F.O.G.Secondary
The F.O.GAnd Yehudah said: "The strength of the burden-bearers is failing, and there is too much rubble. We cannot build the wall."
F.O.G.M.
F.O.G MessageBut from within Judah came a cry of despair: "The laborers are giving out—there's just too much rubble. We can't rebuild this wall."
BSB
Berean Standard BibleMeanwhile, the people of Judah said: “The strength of the laborer fails, and there is so much rubble that we will never be able to rebuild the wall.”
Footnotes
The internal voice of discouragement comes from *Yehudah* itself—not the enemies outside but the tribe within. The verb *kāšal* ("failing, stumbling") depicts exhaustion to the point of collapse. The word *ʿāpār* (rendered "rubble" here) is literally "dust/soil"—the same word used in Gen. 2:7 for the dust from which humanity was formed and in Gen. 3:19 for the dust to which it returns. The builders are surrounded by the language of death and dissolution. FOG renders Judah as the subject of the speech; FOG Message frames it as a cry from within the community to heighten the pathos of internal collapse threatening to do what the enemy could not.
