6

Conspiracy Against Nehemiah

¹Now it happened ⚓when Sanballat, Tobiah, 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 ⚓(though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), ²that Sanballat and Geshem ⚓sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of ⚓Ono.” But they ⚓thought to do me harm.
³So 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?”
⁴But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.
⁵Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. ⁶In it was written:
It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, ⚓that you may be their king. ⁷And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, “There is a king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.
⁸Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”
⁹For 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.
¹⁰Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and 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; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.”
¹¹And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” ¹²Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that ⚓he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.
¹⁴⚓My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the ⚓prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

The Wall Completed

¹⁵So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶And it happened, ⚓when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for ⚓they perceived that this work was done by our God.
¹⁷Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. ¹⁸For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the ⚓son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of ⚓Meshullam the son of Berechiah. ¹⁹Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

6

敌对尼希米的阴谋

¹参巴拉、多比雅、阿拉伯人基善和我们其余的仇敌听见我已经建造了城墙，没有破裂之处在其中，那时我还没有在城门安门扇； ²参巴拉和基善就派人来见我，说：“请你来，我们在阿挪平原的村庄见面。”其实，他们想要害我。 ³于是我派使者到他们那里，说：“我正在进行大的工程，不能下去。我怎么能离开，下去见你们，而让工程停顿呢？” ⁴他们这样派人来见我四次，我都用这话回答他们。 ⁵参巴拉第五次同样派仆人来见我，手里拿着未封的信， ⁶信上写着：“列国中有风声，基善⚓也说，你和犹太人谋反，所以你建造城墙。据说，你要作他们的王， ⁷并且你派先知在耶路撒冷指着你宣讲说，‘在犹大有王。’如今这些话必传给王知，现在请你来，我们一起商议。” ⁸我就派人到他那里，说：“你所说的这些事，一概没有，是你心里捏造的。” ⁹他们全都要使我们惧怕，说：“他们的手必软弱，不能工作，以致不能完工。”现在，求你坚固我的手。
¹⁰我到了米希大别的孙子，第来雅的儿子示玛雅家里；那时，他闭门不出。他说：“我们可以在上帝的殿里，就在殿的中间会面，锁住殿门，因为他们要来杀你，要在夜里来杀你。” ¹¹我说：“像我这样的人岂会逃跑呢？像我这样的人岂能进入殿里保全生命呢？我不进去！” ¹²我看清楚了，看哪，上帝并没有派他，是他自己说预言攻击我，是多比雅和参巴拉收买了他； ¹³收买他的目的是要叫我惧怕，依从他犯罪，留下一个坏名声，好让他们毁谤我。 ¹⁴我的上帝啊，求你记得多比雅、参巴拉、挪亚底女先知和其余的先知，因他们行这些事，要叫我惧怕。

工程结束

¹⁵以禄月二十五日，城墙修完了，共修了五十二天。 ¹⁶我们所有的仇敌听见了，四围的列国就惧怕，愁眉不展，因为他们知道这工作得以完成，是出于我们的上帝。 ¹⁷而且，在那些日子，犹大的贵族屡次寄信给多比雅，多比雅也回信给他们。 ¹⁸在犹大有许多人与多比雅结盟，因为他是亚拉的儿子示迦尼的女婿，并且他的儿子约哈难娶了比利迦的儿子米书兰的女儿。 ¹⁹他们也在我面前说多比雅的好话，又把我的话传给他。多比雅常寄信来，要叫我惧怕。