Strengthen Our Hands

¹ Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no gaps left in it (although I hadn’t yet hung the doors in the gates), ² Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let’s meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they wanted to harm me, ³ so I sent messengers to tell them, “I’m doing important work, so I can’t come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?” ⁴ They sent me a message like this four times, and every time I gave them a similar reply. ⁵ But the fifth time, Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way, except that now he carried an open letter. ⁶ It stated: It is reported among the nations and confirmed by Geshem that you and the Jews intend to rebel. This is why you are rebuilding the wall. According to these reports, you intend to become their king. ⁷ You have also appointed prophets to make this announcement about you in Jerusalem: There is a king in Judah! Now, the king will hear of these reports, so come; let’s talk together. ⁸ So I sent him this reply: “Nothing that you say has happened. You are simply inventing this.” ⁹ All of them were trying to make us afraid, saying, “They will be discouraged, and the work won’t get finished.” But now, God, strengthen me! ¹⁰ Later I went to see Shemaiah, Delaiah’s son and Mehetabel’s grandson, who was confined to his house, and he said: “Let’s meet together in God’s house, inside the temple itself. Let’s shut the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; they are coming to kill you tonight!” ¹¹ But I replied, “Should someone like me run away? Who like me would go into the temple to save his life? I won’t go in!” ¹² Then I realized that God hadn’t sent him at all but that he spoke this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³ He was hired to frighten me and to make me sin by acting in this way. Then they could give me a bad name and discredit me. ¹⁴ My God, remember these deeds of Tobiah and Sanballat! Also remember Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to frighten me. ¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul. It took fifty-two days.