The Bible passage read on the morning of President Donald Trump's inauguration reportedly referenced his plans to build a border wall. Though the traditional inauguration prayer at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., was closed to the public, a transcript obtained by Time revealed Pastor Robert Jeffress chose to read an Old Testament passage from the Book of Nehemiah that "focuses on the rebuilding of walls around Jerusalem," CBS News reported.
"When I think of you, President-elect Trump, I am reminded of another great leader God chose thousands of years ago in Israel," Jeffress, a Trump supporter, reportedly said. "The nation had been in bondage for decades, the infrastructure of the country was in shambles, and God raised up a powerful leader to restore the nation. And the man God chose was neither a politician nor a priest. Instead, God chose a builder whose name was Nehemiah."
Jeffress, whose stances on Islam and homosexuality have made him controversial, reportedly went on to say that the "first step of rebuilding the nation was the building of a great wall," and that Nehemiah's wall was specifically commissioned by God "to protect its citizens from enemy attack." "You see, God is NOT against building walls!" Jeffress said, according to CBS News.
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Per Jeffress, Nehemiah's wall was completed in just 52 days. If Trump sticks to that timeline, we'll have a big wall on the U.S.-Mexico border by mid-March.
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