Nehemiah 6

1 And it comes to pass, when it has been heard by Sanballat, and Tobiah, and by Geshem the Arabian, and by the rest of our enemies, that I have built the wall, and there has not been left in it a breach (also, until that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),

Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no longer any sections left broken open, although I had not yet set up the doors in the gates,

2 that Sanballat sends, also Geshem, to me, saying, “Come and we meet together in the villages, in the Valley of Ono”; and they are thinking to do to me evil.

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, “Come, let us meet together somewhere in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do harm to me.

3 And I send to them messengers, saying, “A great work I am doing, and I am not able to come down; why does the work cease when I let it alone, and have come down to you?”

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

4 And they send to me, according to this word, four times, and I return them [word] according to this word.

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

5 And Sanballat sends to me, according to this word, a fifth time, his servant, and an open letter in his hand;

Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand.

6 it is written in it, “Among the nations it has been heard, and Gashmu is saying: You and the Jews are thinking to rebel, therefore you are building the wall, and you have been to them for a king—according to these words!

In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel, for that is why you are rebuilding the wall. From what these reports say, you are about to become their king.

7 And also, you have appointed prophets to call for you in Jerusalem, saying, A king [is] in Judah, and now it is heard by the king according to these words; and now come, and we take counsel together.”

You have also appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem, saying, 'There is a king in Judah!' You can be sure the king will hear these reports. Therefore come, let us speak with one another.”

8 And I send to him, saying, “It has not been according to these words that you are saying, for from your own heart you are devising them”;

Then I sent word to him saying, “No such things have occurred as you say, for within your heart you invented them.”

9 for all of them are making us afraid, saying, “Their hands are too feeble for the work, and it is not done”; and now, strengthen my hands.

For they all wanted to make us afraid, thinking, “They will drop their hands from doing the work, and it will not be done.” But now, God, please strengthen my hands.

10 And I have entered the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabeel—and he is restrained—and he says, “Let us meet at the house of God, at the inside of the temple, and we shut the doors of the temple, for they are coming to slay you—indeed, by night they are coming to slay you.”

I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel, who was confined in his home. He said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. At night they are coming to kill you.”

11 And I say, “A man such as I—does he flee? And who as I, that goes into the temple, and lives? I do not go in.”

I replied, “Would a man like me run away? Would a man like me go into the temple just so he could save his own life? I will not go in!”

12 And I discern, and behold, God has not sent him, for in the prophecy he has spoken to me both Tobiah and Sanballat hired him,

I realized that it was not God who sent him, but that he had prophesied against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

13 so that he [is] a hired worker, that I may fear and do so, and I had sinned, and it had been to them for an evil name that they may reproach me.

They hired him to make me afraid, so that I might do what he said and sin, so they could give me a bad name in order to humiliate me.

14 Be mindful, O my God, of Tobiah, and of Sanballat, according to these his works, and also, of Noadiah the prophetess, and of the rest of the prophets who have been making me afraid.

Call to mind Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, and all that they did. Also call to mind the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who tried to make me be afraid.

15 And the wall is completed in the twenty-fifth of Elul, on the fifty-second day;

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, after fifty-two days.

16 and it comes to pass, when all our enemies have heard, and all the nations who are all around us see, that they fall greatly in their own eyes, and know that by our God has this work been done.

When all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us, they became afraid and they fell greatly in their own eyes. For they knew the work was done with the help of our God.

17 Also, in those days the nobles of Judah are multiplying their letters going to Tobiah, and those of Tobiah are coming to them;

At this time the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them.

18 for many in Judah are sworn to him, for he [is] son-in-law to Shechaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan has taken the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah;

For there were many in Judah who were bound by an oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah. His son Jehohanan had taken as his wife the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

19 also, they have been speaking of his good deeds before me, and they have been taking my words out to him; Tobiah has sent letters to make me afraid.

They also spoke to me about his good deeds and reported my words back to him. Letters were sent to me from Tobiah to frighten me.