| Chapter
6 |
| 1 | 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. |
