Sanballat’s Conspiracy 1 UDB Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and our other enemies heard a report that we had finished rebuilding the wall, and that now there were no more gaps, although we had not yet replaced the doors in the gates. BSB BSB: 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—
2 UDB So Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message that read, "Come and talk with us at a place in the plain of Ono north of Jerusalem." But it was no secret that they wanted to harm me. BSB BSB: 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.
3 UDB So I sent messengers to them, to tell them, "I am doing an important work, and I cannot go down there. This work should not be delayed just so I can go down to talk with you. BSB BSB: 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?”
4 UDB They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing. BSB BSB: Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.
5 UDB Then Sanballat sent one of his servants to me, bringing a fifth message. This one was written, but it was not sealed and he held it in his hand. BSB BSB: The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter
6 UDB This is what was written in the message: "Some people in the nearby countries have heard a report that you and the other Jews are rebuilding the wall in order to be able start a rebellion against the king of Babylon, and that you are planning to become the king of the Israel. Geshem has told us that this is the truth. BSB BSB: 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,
7 UDB People are also saying that you have appointed some prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem that you, Nehemiah, are now the king in Judea. King Artaxerxes will certainly hear these reports, and then you will be in big trouble. So I suggest that we should meet together to talk about this matter." BSB BSB: 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.”
8 UDB When I read that message, I sent the messenger back to Sanballat to say, "None of what you are saying is true. You have made this up in your own imagination." BSB BSB: Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”
9 UDB I said that because I knew that they were trying to cause us to be afraid, so that they thought, "They will become so discouraged that they will not work on the wall any more, and the work will never be finished." So I prayed, "O God, give me courage." BSB BSB: 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.
10 UDB One day I went to talk with Shemaia son of Delaiah and grandson of Mehetabel. I went to talk with him in his house. He was ordered not to leave his house. He said to me, "You and I must enter the temple, and we must go to one of the rooms in the center of the temple, and lock the doors. They are going to come to kill you. They are coming tonight to kill you." BSB BSB: 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!”
11 UDB I replied, "I am not that kind of person! I would not run and hide in the temple to save my life! No, I will not do that!" BSB BSB: 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!”
12 UDB I thought about what he had said, and I saw that God had not told Shemaiah what to say to me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. BSB BSB: I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
13 UDB They had hired him to frighten me. They wanted me to disobey God's commands and sin by hiding in the temple. If I did that, they would give me a bad name for what I had done, and then they would humiliate me. BSB BSB: 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.
14 UDB So I prayed, "My God, do not forget what Tobiah and Sanballat have done. And do not forget the prophetess Noadiah and the other prophets who tried to make me be afraid." BSB BSB: 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.
Completion of the Wall 15 UDB We finished rebuilding the wall in the month of Elul, on the twenty-fifth day of the month. We did all the work in fifty-two days. BSB BSB: So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.
16 UDB When our enemies in the nearby countries heard about that, they became very afraid and they were humiliated, because they knew it was God who helped us complete this work. BSB BSB: 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.
17 UDB During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them. BSB BSB: Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters kept coming to them.
18 UDB Many people in Judea had sworn their allegiance to Tobiah. He was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and Tobiah's son Jehohanan married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah. BSB BSB: 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.
19 UDB People often talked in my presence about all the good deeds that Tobiah had done, and then they would tell him everything that I said. So Tobiah sent many letters to me to try to cause me to become afraid. BSB BSB: 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.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.