{"book":"Nehemiah","slug":"nehemiah","ch":6,"genre":"prose","sub":"Nehemiah","prev":"nehemiah/5","next":"nehemiah/7","verses":[{"v":1,"t":"When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left — though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates —","f":[],"h":"Sanballat’s Conspiracy","style":"reg"},{"v":2,"t":"Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message:“ Come, let us meet together in [one of] the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.","f":["Or in Kephirim","Or in the valley"],"lines":[{"style":"","t":"Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message:“ Come, let us meet together in [one of] the villages on the plain of Ono.”"},{"style":"reg","t":"But they were planning to harm me."}],"style":"reg"},{"v":3,"t":"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 it to go down to you?”","f":[],"style":"reg"},{"v":4,"t":"Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.","f":[],"style":"reg"},{"v":5,"t":"The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter","f":[],"style":"reg"},{"v":6,"t":"that read:“ It is reported among the nations — and Geshem agrees — that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, [and] this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,","f":["Hebrew Gashmu, a variant of Geshem; see verse 1."],"lines":[{"style":"","t":"that read:"},{"style":"tab1stline","t":"“ It is reported among the nations — and Geshem agrees — that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, [and] this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,"}],"style":"tab1stline"},{"v":7,"t":"and you have even appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf:‘ There is a king in Judah.’ Soon these rumors will reach the ears of the king. So come, let us confer together.”","f":[]},{"v":8,"t":"Then I sent him this reply:“ There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”","f":[],"style":"reg"},{"v":9,"t":"For they were all [trying] to frighten us, saying,“ Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen my hands.","f":["Hebrew But now; for clarity, my God has been included."],"lines":[{"style":"reg","t":"For they were all [trying] to frighten us, saying,“ Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.”"},{"style":"reg","t":"But now, my God, strengthen my hands."}],"style":"reg"},{"v":10,"t":"Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said:“ Let us meet at the house of God inside the temple. Let us shut the temple doors because they are coming to kill you — by night they are coming to kill you!”","f":[],"lines":[{"style":"reg","t":"Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said:"},{"style":"indent1stline","t":"“ Let us meet at the house of God"},{"style":"indent2","t":"inside the temple."},{"style":"indent1","t":"Let us shut the temple doors"},{"style":"indent2","t":"because they are coming to kill you —"},{"style":"indent2","t":"by night they are coming to kill you!”"}],"style":"reg"},{"v":11,"t":"But I replied,“ Should a man like me run away? Should one like me go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go!”","f":[],"style":"reg"},{"v":12,"t":"I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had uttered [this] prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.","f":[],"style":"reg"},{"v":13,"t":"He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me.","f":[]},{"v":14,"t":"O my God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who tried to intimidate me.","f":[],"style":"reg"},{"v":15,"t":"So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.","f":["Elul is the sixth month of the Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of August and September."],"h":"Completion of the Wall","style":"reg"},{"v":16,"t":"When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and disheartened, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.","f":[]},{"v":17,"t":"Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters kept coming to them.","f":[],"style":"reg"},{"v":18,"t":"For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.","f":[]},{"v":19,"t":"Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.","f":[],"style":"reg"}]}