When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ·officer [official] heard about this, they were ·upset [very displeased] that someone had come to ·help [promote/seek the welfare of] the Israelites.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite officer, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they ·made fun of us and laughed at [mocked and ridiculed/jeered at] us. They said, “What are you doing? Are you ·turning [rebelling] against the king?”

Those Against the Rebuilding

When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he was very angry, even furious. He ·made fun of [mocked; ridiculed] the Jewish people.

Tobiah the Ammonite, who was ·next to Sanballat [^Lbeside him], said, “If a fox climbed up on the stone wall they are building, it would break it down.”

I prayed, “Hear us, our God. We are ·hated [despised]. Turn the ·insults [taunts; sneers] of Sanballat and Tobiah back on their own heads. ·Let them be captured and stolen like valuables [Send them as plunder to a land of exile].

But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from Ashdod were very angry when they heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls were continuing and that the ·holes [gaps; breaches] in the wall were being closed.

More Problems for Nehemiah

Then Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and our other enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there was not one ·gap [breach] in it. But I had not yet set the doors in the gates.

So Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, Nehemiah, let’s meet together in ·Kephirim [or one of the villages] on the plain of Ono.” But they were ·planning [plotting; scheming] to harm me.

Sanballat and Geshem sent the same message to me four times, and each time I sent back the same answer.

The fifth time Sanballat sent his ·helper [servant; assistant] to me, and in his hand was an ·unsealed [open] letter.

I ·knew [realized; perceived; recognized] that God had not sent him but that Tobiah and Sanballat had ·paid [hired] him to prophesy against me.

I prayed, “My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat and what they have done. Also remember the prophetess Noadiah and the other prophets who have been trying to ·frighten [intimidate; terrorize] me.”

Joiada was the son of Eliashib the high priest. One of Joiada’s sons married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, so I ·sent [drove; banished] him away from ·me [my sight].