Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arabian, and our other enemies learned that I had built the wall with no breaches remaining, even though I hadn't yet installed doors on the gates at that time, they were angry.

Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me saying, "Let's meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono," but their intention was to harm me. They thought if we met, they could attack me and stop my work.

I responded by sending messengers to them, saying, "I'm working on something very important that can't be interrupted right now. If I leave this project unfinished to go meet with you, it will stall and never get completed." But Sanballat and Geshem kept trying to provoke me, sending their servants multiple times to tell me the same thing.

Finally, Sanballat sent a servant with an open letter in his hand, claiming that the nations were spreading rumors that I was planning to rebel against King Artaxerxes because of the wall. He also accused me and the Jews of appointing prophets to proclaim my claim to be king over Judah.

I replied, "These are false accusations made up by your own imagination. They're not based on any truth." Then I prayed, "O God, give me strength in my hands."

Later, I visited Shemaiah at his home because he was confined there. He told me, "Let's meet together inside the temple walls and shut the doors so they can't find us." But I said, "Should a person like me run away? And what good would it do to hide in the temple where we're supposed to worship?"

I realized that Shemaiah wasn't speaking God's words; he was hired by Tobiah and Sanballat to try to intimidate me into sinning so they could have an excuse to accuse me of wrongdoing. They wanted to discredit me, and Shemaiah was their accomplice.

My God, I pray that you will judge them according to their actions. See how Tobiah, Sanballat, the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of those prophets tried to intimidate me with lies.

After fifty-two days of hard work, the wall was finally completed on the twenty-fifth day of Elul. When our enemies heard about it, they were terrified in their own eyes because they realized that God had accomplished this incredible feat through us.

Around that time, many nobles from Judah sent letters to Tobiah, and he responded with messages that made it seem like he was a respected leader among them. But the truth was that Tobiah had gained influence over many people because of his family connections – his father-in-law Shecaniah's son Arah, and his own son Jehohanan had married into a prominent family.

Tobiah also sent letters to me with false accusations, trying to intimidate me. He made it seem like he was doing me favors by reporting my words back to me, but in reality, he was just manipulating people to get what he wanted.