Hanani, one of my brothers, came with some other men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.

Let’s rebuild

The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I was doing. I hadn’t yet told the Jews, the priests, the officials, the officers, or the rest who were to do the work.

Opposition mounts

When Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he became angry and raged. He mocked the Jews,

saying in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria: “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the piles of rubble, even though they are burned?”

Now the Jews who were living near them came and said to us again and again, “You must return to us!”

Internal unrest

Then there was a great protest of the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.

One hundred fifty Jews and officials, along with those who came to us from the surrounding nations, gathered around my table.

It stated: It is reported among the nations and confirmed by Geshem that you and the Jews intend to rebel. This is why you are rebuilding the wall. According to these reports, you intend to become their king.

Marrying foreign women

Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.