Nehemiah 4:23
So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.
Nehemiah, his brethren, his servants, and the men of the guard who followed him kept their clothes on while they worked and stood watch, putting them off only for washing. They did not lay them aside for rest, but wore them through the demanding labor and through its brief periods of sleep. Even in sleep they remained dressed, so as to be ready for duty at any moment.
Their staying dressed was constant readiness for defense while the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall went forward. It showed the hardship they endured and the unceasing vigilance required to guard the work and to carry it on under threat.