Nehemiah 6

¹ When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap remained in it—though at that time I had not yet set the doors in the gates—

² Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message saying, "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono." But they were scheming to harm me.

³ So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?"

⁴ They sent me the same message four times, and I answered them in the same way each time.

⁵ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me a fifth time with an open letter in his hand.

⁶ In it was written: "It is reported among the nations—and Geshem confirms it—that you and the Jews are planning to rebel, and that is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are about to become their king.

⁷ You have also appointed prophets to proclaim about you in Jerusalem: 'There is a king in Judah!' Now this report will reach the king. So come, let us confer together."

⁸ I sent him this reply: "Nothing like what you are saying is happening. You are inventing it out of your own mind."

⁹ For they were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done." But now, strengthen my hands!

¹⁰ I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home. He said, "Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because they are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you."

¹¹ But I said, "Should a man like me run away? Should someone like me go into the temple just to save his life? I will not go!"

¹² I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

¹³ He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing this, and then they would have material for a bad report to discredit me.

¹⁴ Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, for what they have done, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who tried to intimidate me.

¹⁵ The wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.

¹⁶ When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their confidence, for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

¹⁷ Also, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters kept coming to them.

¹⁸ For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah.

¹⁹ Moreover, they kept reporting his good deeds to me and telling him what I said. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.