Nehemiah 6:1-9

New King James Version

Conspiracy Against Nehemiah

6 Now it happened ^(A)when Sanballat, Tobiah, ^[a]Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it ^(B)(though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), ² that Sanballat and ^[b]Geshem ^(C)sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together ^[c]among the villages in the plain of ^(D)Ono.” But they ^(E)thought to do me harm.

³ So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

⁴ But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

⁵ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. ⁶ In it was written:

⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”

⁹ For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”

Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.