Nehemiah 6:1-9
New American Standard Bible
The Enemy’s Plot
6 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach was left in it, (A)although at that time I had not installed the doors in the gates, 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let’s meet together [a]at Chephirim in the plain of (B)Ono.” But they were plotting to [b]harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and am unable to come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 Then they sent messages to me four times worded in this way, and I answered them with the same wording. 5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written: “It is reported among the nations, and [c]Gashmu says, that (C)you and the Jews intend to rebel; for that reason you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports. 7 You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning [d]you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let’s consult together.” 8 Then I sent a message to him saying, “Nothing like these things that you are saying has been done, but you are (D)inventing them [e]in your own mind.” 9 For all of them were trying to frighten us, [f]thinking, “[g]They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now, (E)God, strengthen my hands.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Nehemiah 6:2 LXX in the villages in
- Nehemiah 6:2 Lit do evil to me
- Nehemiah 6:6 In v 1 and elsewhere, Geshem
- Nehemiah 6:7 Lit you, saying
- Nehemiah 6:8 Lit from your heart
- Nehemiah 6:9 Lit saying,
- Nehemiah 6:9 Lit Their hands will go slack from
Nehemiah 6:1-9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Attempts to Discourage the Builders
6 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies(A) heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap was left in it(B)—though at that time I had not installed the doors in the gates(C)— 2 Sanballat and Geshem(D) sent me a message: “Come, let’s meet together in the villages of[a] the Ono Valley.”(E) But they were planning 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 cease while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent me the same proposal, and I gave them the same reply.
5 Sanballat(F) sent me this same message a fifth time by his aide, who had an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written:
It is reported among the nations—and Geshem[b](G) agrees—that you and the Jews plan to rebel. This is the reason you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king 7 and have even set up the prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: “There is a king in Judah.”(H) These rumors will be heard by the king. So come, let’s confer together.
8 Then I replied to him, “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”(I) 9 For they were all trying to intimidate(J) us, saying, “They will become discouraged[c] in the work,(K) and it will never be finished.”
But now, my God, strengthen me.[d](L)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Nehemiah 6:2 Or together at Kephirim in
- Nehemiah 6:6 Lit Gashmu
- Nehemiah 6:9 Lit saying, “Their hands will fail
- Nehemiah 6:9 Lit my hands
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