1 N ow when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates,

And it cometh to pass, when it hath been heard by Sanballat, and Tobiah, and by Geshem the Arabian, and by the rest of our enemies, that I have builded the wall, and there hath not been left in it a breach, (also, till that time the doors I had not set up in the gates,)

2 t hen Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.

that Sanballat sendeth, also Geshem, unto me, saying, `Come and we meet together in the villages, in the valley of Ono;' and they are thinking to do to me evil.

3 S o I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”

And I send unto them messengers, saying, `A great work I am doing, and I am not able to come down; why doth the work cease when I let it alone, and have come down unto you?'

4 T hey sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way.

and they send unto me, according to this word, four times, and I return them according to this word.

5 T hen Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand.

And Sanballat sendeth unto me, according to this word, a fifth time, his servant, and an open letter in his hand;

6 I n it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports.

it is written in it, `Among the nations it hath been heard, and Gashmu is saying: Thou and the Jews are thinking to rebel, therefore thou art building the wall, and thou hast been to them for a king -- according to these words!

7 Y ou have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together.”

And also, prophets thou hast appointed to call for thee in Jerusalem, saying, A king in Judah, and now it is heard by the king according to these words; and now come, and we take counsel together.'

8 T hen I sent a message to him saying, “Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.”

And I send unto him, saying, `It hath not been according to these words that thou art saying, for from thine own heart thou art devising them;'

9 F or all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, “ They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

for all of them are making us afraid, saying, `Their hands are too feeble for the work, and it is not done;' and now, strengthen Thou my hands.

10 W hen I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.”

And I have entered the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabeel -- and he is restrained -- and he saith, `Let us meet at the house of God, at the inside of the temple, and we shut the doors of the temple, for they are coming in to slay thee -- yea, by night they are coming in to slay thee.'

11 B ut I said, “ Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”

And I say, `A man such as I -- doth he flee? and who as I, that doth go in unto the temple, and live? -- I do not go in.'

12 T hen I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

And I discern, and lo, God hath not sent him, for in the prophecy he hath spoken unto me both Tobiah and Sanballat hired him,

13 H e was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me.

so that he an hireling, that I may fear and do so, and I had sinned, and it had been to them for an evil name that they may reproach me.

14 R emember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me. The Wall Is Finished

Be mindful, O my God, of Tobiah, and of Sanballat, according to these his works, and also, of Noadiah the prophetess, and of the rest of the prophets who have been making me afraid.

15 S o the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.

And the wall is completed in the twenty and fifth of Elul, on the fifty and second day;

16 W hen all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

and it cometh to pass, when all our enemies have heard, and all the nations who are round about us see, that they fall greatly in their own eyes, and know that by our God hath this work been done.

17 A lso in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.

Also, in those days the freemen of Judah are multiplying their letters going unto Tobiah, and those of Tobiah are coming in unto them;

18 F or many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

for many in Judah are sworn to him, for he son-in-law to Shechaniah son of Arah, and Jehohanan his son hath taken the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah;

19 M oreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

also, his good deeds they have been saying before me, and my words they have been taking out to him; letters hath Tobiah sent to make me afraid.