Nehemiah 6
Living Bible
6 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies found out that we had almost completed the rebuilding of the wall—though we had not yet hung all the doors of the gates— 2 they sent me a message asking me to meet them in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But I realized they were plotting to kill me, 3 so I replied by sending back this message to them: “I am doing a great work! Why should I stop to come and visit with you?”
4 Four times they sent the same message, and each time I gave the same reply. 5-6 The fifth time, Sanballat’s servant came with an open letter in his hand, and this is what it said:
“Geshem tells me that everywhere he goes he hears that the Jews are planning to rebel, and that is why you are building the wall. He claims you plan to be their king—that is what is being said. 7 He also reports that you have appointed prophets to campaign for you at Jerusalem by saying, ‘Look! Nehemiah is just the man we need!’
“You can be very sure that I am going to pass along these interesting comments to King Artaxerxes! I suggest that you come and talk it over with me—for that is the only way you can save yourself!”
8 My reply was, “You know you are lying. There isn’t one bit of truth to the whole story. 9 You’re just trying to scare us into stopping our work.” (O Lord God, please strengthen me!)
10 A few days later I went to visit Shemaiah (son of Delaiah, who was the son of Mehetabel), for he said he was receiving a message from God.
“Let us hide in the Temple and bolt the door,” he exclaimed, “for they are coming tonight to kill you.”
11 But I replied, “Should I, the governor, run away from danger? And if I go into the Temple, not being a priest, I would forfeit my life. No, I won’t do it!”
12-13 Then I realized that God had not spoken to him, but Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him to scare me and make me sin by fleeing to the Temple; and then they would be able to accuse me.
14 “O my God,” I prayed, “don’t forget all the evil of Tobiah, Sanballat, Noadiah the prophetess, and all the other prophets who have tried to discourage me.”
15 The wall was finally finished in early September[a]—just fifty-two days after we had begun!
16 When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated, and they realized that the work had been done with the help of our God. 17 During those fifty-two days many letters went back and forth between Tobiah and the wealthy politicians of Judah. 18 For many in Judah had sworn allegiance to him because his father-in-law was Shecaniah (son of Arah) and because his son Jehohanan was married to the daughter of Meshullam (son of Berechiah). 19 They all told me what a wonderful man Tobiah was, and then they told him everything I had said; and Tobiah sent many threatening letters to frighten me.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 6:15 early September, or “the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul.”
Nehemiah 6
King James Version
6 Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
2 That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.
3 And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
4 Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.
5 Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;
6 Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.
7 And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.
8 Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.
9 For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.
10 Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.
11 And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.
12 And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
13 Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
14 My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.
15 So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
16 And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.
17 Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.
18 For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.
19 Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.
Nehemias 6
Dette er Biblen på dansk
6 Da det nu kom Sanballat, Araberen Gesjem og vore andre Fjender for Øre, at jeg havde bygget Muren, og at der ikke var flere Huller i den - dog havde jeg på den Tid ikke sat Fløje i Portene - 2 sendte Sanballat og Gesjem Bud og opfordrede mig til en Sammenkomst i Kefirim i Onodalen. Men de havde ondt i Sinde imod mig. 3 Derfor sendte jeg Bud til dem og lod sige: "Jeg har et stort Arbejde for og kan derfor ikke komme derned; hvorfor skulde Arbejdet standse? Og det vilde ske, hvis jeg lod det ligge for at komme ned til eder. 4 Fire Gange sendte de mig samme Bud, og hver Gang gav jeg dem samme Svar. 5 Da sendte Sanballat for femte Gang sin Tjener til mig med samme Bud, og han havde et åbent Brev med, 6 i hvilket der stod: Det hedder sig blandt Folkene, og Gasjmut bekræfter det, at du og Jøderne pønser på Oprør; derfor er det, du bygger Muren, og at du vil være deres Konge. 7 Og du skal endog have fået Profeter til i Jerusalem at udråbe dig til Konge i Juda. Dette Rygte vil nu komme Kongen for Øre; kom derfor og lad os tales ved! 8 Men jeg sendte ham det Bud: Slige Ting, som du omtaler, er slet ikke sket; det er dit eget Påfund! 9 Thi de havde alle til Hensigt at indjage os Skræk, idet de tænkte, at vi skulde lade Hænderne synke, så Arbejdet ikke blev til noget. Men styrk du nu mine Hænder!
10 Og da jeg gik ind i Sjemajas, Mehetab'els Søn Delajas Søns, Hus, som ved den Tid måtte holde sig inde, sagde han: Lad os tales ved i Guds Hus, i Helligdommens Indre, og stænge Dørene, thi der kommer nogle Folk, som vil dræbe dig; de kommer i Nat for at dræbe dig!" 11 Men jeg svarede: Skulde en Mand som jeg flygte? Og hvorledes skulde en Mand som jeg kunne betræde Helligdommen og blive i Live? Jeg går ikke derind! 12 Thi jeg skønnede, at det ikke var Gud, som havde sendt ham, men at han var kommet med det Udsagn om mig, fordi Tobija og Sanballat havde lejet ham dertil, 13 for at jeg skulde blive bange og forsynde mig ved slig Adfærd og de få Anledning til ilde Omtale, så de kunde bagvaske mig. 14 Kom Tobija og Sanballat i Hu, min Gud, efter deres Gerninger, ligeledes Profetinden Noadja og de andre Profeter, der vilde gøre mig bange!
15 Således blev Muren færdig den fem og tyvende Dag i Elul Måned efter to og halvtredsindstyve Dages Forløb. 16 Og da alle'vore Fjender hørte det, blev alle Hedningerne rundt om os bange og såre nedslåede, idet de skønnede, at dette Værk var udført med vor Guds Hjælp. 17 Men der gik også i de Dage en Mængde Breve frem og tilbage mellem Tobija og de store i Juda; 18 thi mange i Juda stod i Edsforbund med ham, da han var Svigersøn af Sjekanja, Aras Søn, og hans Søn Johanan var gift med en Datter af Mesjullam, Berekjas Søn. 19 Også plejede de både at tale godt om ham til mig og at forebringe ham mine Ord; Tobija sendte også Breve for at gøre mig bange.
Nehemiah 6
1599 Geneva Bible
6 8 Nehemiah answereth with great wisdom and zeal to his adversary. 11 He is not discouraged by the false Prophets.
1 And when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall, and that there were no more [a]breaches therein (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates)
2 Then sent Sanballat and Geshem unto me, saying, come thou that we may meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono: and they thought to do me evil.
3 Therefore I sent messengers unto them, saying, I have a great work to do, and I cannot come down: [b]why should the work cease, while I leave it and come down to you?
4 Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort. And I answered them after the same manner.
5 Then sent Sanballat his servant after this sort unto me the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand,
6 Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and [c]Gashmu hath said it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel, for the which cause thou buildest the wall, and thou wilt be their king according to these [d]words.
7 Thou hast also ordained [e]the Prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a King in Judah: and now according to these words it shall come to the King’s ears: come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.
8 Then I sent unto him, saying, It is not done according to these words that thou sayest: for thou feignest them of thine own heart.
9 For all they afraid us, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, and it shall not be done: now therefore [f]encourage thou me.
10 ¶ And I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, and he was [g]shut up, and he said, Let us come together into the house of God in the midst of the Temple, and shut the doors of the Temple: for they will come to slay thee: yea, in the night will they come to kill thee.
11 Then I said, [h]Should such a man as I, flee? Who is he, being as I am, that would go into the Temple to live? I will not go in.
12 And lo, I perceived that God had not sent him, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
13 Therefore was he hired, that I might be afraid, and do thus, and sin, and that they might have an evil report, that they might reproach me.
14 My God, remember thou Tobiah, and Sanballat according unto these their works, and Noadiah the [i]Prophetess also, and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear.
15 ¶ Notwithstanding the wall was finished on the five and twentieth day of [j]Elul, in two and [k]fifty days.
16 And when all our enemies heard thereof, even all the heathen that were about us, they were afraid, and their courage failed them: for they knew that this work was wrought by our God.
17 And in these days were there many of the princes of Judah, whose [l]letters went unto Tobiah, and those of Tobiah came unto them.
18 For there were many in Judah, that were sworn unto him: for he was the son in law of Shechaniah, the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah.
19 Yea, they spake in his praise before me, and told him my words, and Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 6:1 That is, that they were joined together, as Neh. 4:6.
- Nehemiah 6:3 Meaning, that if he should obey their request, the work which God had appointed, should cease: showing hereby that we should not commit ourselves to the hands of the wicked.
- Nehemiah 6:6 Or, Geshem.
- Nehemiah 6:6 As the same goeth.
- Nehemiah 6:7 Thou hast bribed and set up false prophets, to make thyself king, and so to defraud the king of Persia of that subjection which you owe unto him.
- Nehemiah 6:9 Hebrew, strengthen thou mine hand.
- Nehemiah 6:10 As though he would be secret, to the intent that he might pray unto God with greater liberty, and receive some revelation, which in him was but hypocrisy.
- Nehemiah 6:11 He doubted not but God was able to preserve him, and knew that if he had obeyed this counsel he should have discouraged all the people: thus God giveth power to his to resist false prophecies, though they seem to have never so great probability.
- Nehemiah 6:14 Very grief caused him to pray against such, which under the pretence of being the ministers of God, were adversaries to his glory, and went about to overthrow his Church, declaring also hereby that where there is one true minister of God, the devil hath a great sort of hirelings.
- Nehemiah 6:15 Which was the sixth month and contained part of August, and part of September.
- Nehemiah 6:15 After that I had sent Sanballat his answer.
- Nehemiah 6:17 Thus the Church of God hath evermore enemies within itself, which are more dangerous than the outward and professed enemy.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
