Nehemiah 6:3-5

Amplified Bible

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 to come down to [meet with] you?” ⁴ They sent word to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same way. ⁵ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand.