# Hear, our God, ... for they have provoked the builders to anger. So

Here Nehemiah is praying to God. This can be stated clearly and written with quotation marks. Alternate translation: "Then I prayed, 'Hear, our God, ... for they have provoked the builders to anger.' So" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]])

# Do not cover over

This speaks of a forgiving a person's sins as if they were a object that could be physically hidden. Alternate translation: "Do not forgive" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# do not erase their sin from before you

This speaks of forgetting a person's sins as if they were something written that could be erased. Alternate translation: "do not forget their sins

# they have provoked the builders to anger

"they have angered the builders"