Nehemiah · Unlocked Literal Bible
Nehemiah 6 Unlocked Literal Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no longer any sections left broken open, although I had not yet set up the doors in the gates,
1 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arabian, and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it (though even to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),
2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, “Come, let us meet together somewhere in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do harm to me.
2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come! Let’s meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to harm me.
3 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?”
3 I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I can’t come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?”
4 They sent me the same message four times, and I answered them the same way each time.
4 They sent to me four times like this; and I answered them the same way.
5 Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand.
5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me the same way the fifth time with an open letter in his hand,
6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel, for that is why you are rebuilding the wall. From what these reports say, you are about to become their king.
6 in which was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel. Because of that, you are building the wall. You would be their king, according to these words.
7 You have also appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem, saying, 'There is a king in Judah!' You can be sure the king will hear these reports. Therefore come, let us speak with one another.”
7 You have also appointed prophets to proclaim of you at Jerusalem, saying, ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now it will be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let’s take counsel together.”
8 Then I sent word to him saying, “No such things have occurred as you say, for within your heart you invented them.”
8 Then I sent to him, saying, “There are no such things done as you say, but you imagine them out of your own heart.”
9 For they all wanted to make us afraid, thinking, “They will drop their hands from doing the work, and it will not be done.” But now, God, please strengthen my hands.
9 For they all would have made us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened from the work, that it not be done.” But now, strengthen my hands.
10 I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel, who was confined in his home. He said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. At night they are coming to kill you.”
10 I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home; and he said, “Let us meet together in God’s house, within the temple, and let’s shut the doors of the temple; for they will come to kill you. Yes, in the night they will come to kill you.”
11 I replied, “Would a man like me run away? Would a man like me go into the temple just so he could save his own life? I will not go in!”
11 I said, “Should a man like me flee? Who is there that, being such as I, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”
12 I realized that it was not God who sent him, but that he had prophesied against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
12 I discerned, and behold, God had not sent him, but he pronounced this prophecy against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
13 They hired him to make me afraid, so that I might do what he said and sin, so they could give me a bad name in order to humiliate me.
13 He was hired so that I would be afraid, do so, and sin, and that they might have material for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
14 Call to mind Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, and all that they did. Also call to mind the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who tried to make me be afraid.
14 “Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear.”
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, after fifty-two days.
15 So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days.
16 When all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us, they became afraid and they fell greatly in their own eyes. For they knew the work was done with the help of our God.
16 When all our enemies heard of it, all the nations that were around us were afraid, and they lost their confidence; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.
17 At this time the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them.
17 Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.
18 For there were many in Judah who were bound by an oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah. His son Jehohanan had taken as his wife the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.
18 For there were many in Judah sworn to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as wife.
19 They also spoke to me about his good deeds and reported my words back to him. Letters were sent to me from Tobiah to frighten me.
19 Also they spoke of his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Arah
Named as the father of Shecaniah, Tobiah’s father-in-law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 6:18
Delaiah
Named as the father of Shemaiah and son of Mehetabel.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 6:10
Geshem
Geshem the Arab joined Sanballat and Tobiah in mocking the builders and sent messages to lure Nehemiah to Ono.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 6:1; Nehemiah 6:2
Jehohanan
Tobiah’s son who married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 6:18
Mehetabel
Named as the father of Delaiah (a man, not the Edomite woman of Genesis 36).
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 6:10
Meshullam
Son of Berechiah who repaired two sections of the wall; his daughter married Jehohanan, Tobiah’s son.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 3:4; Nehemiah 3:30; Nehemiah 6:18
Noadiah
Prophetess named with Tobiah and Sanballat among those Nehemiah asked God to remember for trying to intimidate him.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 6:14
Shecaniah
Son of Arah; Tobiah was his son-in-law, which bound many in Judah to him by oath.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 6:18
Shemaiah
Son of Delaiah who urged Nehemiah to hide in the temple; Nehemiah realized God had not sent him and that Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 6:10
Tobiah
Ammonite official who jeered at the wall, sent intimidating letters, had ties of marriage and oath among Judah’s nobles, and was given a temple storeroom by Eliashib until…
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 4:3; Nehemiah 6:17
Cross references (19)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:1; Nehemiah 3:1; Nehemiah 4:6–7
- 2 1 Chronicles 8:12; Psalm 37:12; Nehemiah 11:35; Psalm 37:32; Proverbs 26:24–26
- 3 Matthew 10:16; John 9:4; 1 Timothy 4:15–16; Proverbs 14:15; Luke 14:30
- 4 Luke 18:5; Judges 16:15–20; Proverbs 7:21; Proverbs 14:15; Judges 16:10
- 5 2 Thessalonians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 11:13–15; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 2 Kings 18:26–28; Ephesians 6:11
- 6 Nehemiah 2:19; 1 Peter 3:16; Ezra 4:12; Romans 3:8; John 19:13
- 7 Proverbs 26:24–26; 2 Samuel 15:10–12; 1 Kings 1:7; 1 Kings 1:34; 1 Kings 1:18
- 8 Psalm 52:2; Job 13:4; Acts 25:10; Psalm 38:12; Daniel 11:27
- 9 Psalm 138:3; 1 Peter 5:10; Ephesians 3:16; Nehemiah 4:10–14; Hebrews 12:12
- 10 Jeremiah 36:5; Matthew 7:15; Psalm 37:12; Ezra 10:31; Psalm 120:2–3
- 11 Proverbs 28:1; Psalm 11:1–2; Acts 21:13; Philippians 2:17; Acts 20:24
- 12 Ezekiel 13:22; 1 Corinthians 12:10; 2 Peter 2:3; Jeremiah 28:15; 1 Timothy 3:3
- 13 Jeremiah 20:10; Proverbs 29:5; Nehemiah 6:6; 2 Corinthians 11:12; 2 Timothy 1:7
- 14 Nehemiah 13:29; 2 Timothy 4:14–15; Psalm 140:5–11; 1 John 5:16; Revelation 19:20
- 15 Psalm 1:3; Nehemiah 4:1–2; Daniel 9:25; Ezra 6:15
- 16 Psalm 126:2; Joshua 5:1; Nehemiah 4:7; Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 4:1
- 17 Nehemiah 13:28; Nehemiah 3:5; Micah 7:1–6; Matthew 24:10–12; Nehemiah 5:7
- 18 Ezra 2:5; Nehemiah 7:10; Nehemiah 3:4; Nehemiah 3:30
- 19 Acts 4:18–21; Nehemiah 6:9; Isaiah 37:10–14; Proverbs 28:4; Nehemiah 6:13
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences