1. Then Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and our other enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall. There was not one gap in it. But I had not yet set the doors in the gates.
2. So Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, Nehemiah, let’s meet together in Kephirim on the plain of Ono.”But they were planning to harm me.
3. So I sent messengers to them with this answer: “I am doing a great work. I can’t come down. I don’t want the work to stop while I leave to meet you.”
4. Sanballat and Geshem sent the same message to me four times. And I sent back the same answer each time.
5. The fifth time Sanballat sent his helper to me with the message. And in his hand was an unsealed letter.
6. This is what was written:A report is going around to all the nations. And Geshem says it is true. It says you and the Jews are planning to turn against the king. That’s why you are rebuilding the wall. They say you are going to be their king.
7. They say you have appointed prophets to announce in Jerusalem: “There is a king of Judah!” The king will hear about this. So come, let’s discuss this together.