Nehemiah 6

¹⁰But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.

¹⁹But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

¹Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews

¹At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.

⁶So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

⁷When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,

³The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

¹²The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, Shemed (who built Ono and Lod with its villages),

¹²The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,

³⁵Lod, and Ono; and in the Valley of the Craftsmen.

³²Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,

²⁴A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.

³¹So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.

¹⁶Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

⁴While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

¹⁵Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.

¹⁶Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

¹⁵The simple man believes every word, but the prudent man watches his steps.

³⁰saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

¹⁰Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

⁵yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Otherwise, she will wear me out with her perpetual requests.’”

¹⁵“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”

¹⁶Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,

²¹With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.

¹⁵The simple man believes every word, but the prudent man watches his steps.

¹⁰Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”

⁶So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

¹⁰and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

¹³For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

¹⁴And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

¹¹in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

²⁶Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

²⁷But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”

¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.

¹⁹But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.

¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations.

⁸Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!

¹³When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, which in Hebrew is Gabbatha.

¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

²⁴A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.

¹⁰Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”

¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter.

⁷So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him.

³⁴There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him king over Israel. You are to blow the ram’s horn and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

¹⁸But now, behold, Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know it.

¹⁵Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext of examining his case more carefully. We are ready to kill him on the way.”

²Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

⁴You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.

¹⁰Paul replied, “I am standing before the judgment seat of Caesar, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.

¹²Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.

²⁷And the two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.

⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

³On the day I called, You answered me; You emboldened me and strengthened my soul.

¹⁰And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.

¹⁶I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

¹⁰Meanwhile, the people of Judah said: “The strength of the laborer fails, and there is so much rubble that we will never be able to rebuild the wall.”

¹¹And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”

¹²Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.

⁶And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

⁵Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the Lord;

¹⁵Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

¹²The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,

³¹From the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

²Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.

³What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?

³And Joash remained hidden with his nurse in the house of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.

¹The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

¹For the choirmaster. Of David. In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!

²For behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrow on the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

¹³Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁷But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

²⁴But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

³¹At that very hour, some Pharisees came to Jesus and told Him, “Leave this place and get away, because Herod wants to kill You.”

³²But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’

²²Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives,

¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

³In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

¹⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, but you have persuaded this people to trust in a lie.

³not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.

⁷As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.

¹⁰For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”

⁵A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

⁶that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,

¹²But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

²⁹Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

¹⁵You too should beware of him, for he has vigorously opposed our message.

⁵The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah

⁶I say to the Lord, “You are my God.” Hear, O Lord, my cry for help.

¹⁶If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he should ask God, who will give life to those who commit this kind of sin. There is a sin that leads to death; I am not saying he should ask regarding that sin.

²⁰But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

²²And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ ‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

²³So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has pronounced disaster against you.”

³He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

¹Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews

²before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

²⁵Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress.

¹⁵And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

²Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

¹Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.

⁷When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,

¹⁰But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.

¹Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews

³⁸So in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone. Let them go! For if their purpose or endeavor is of human origin, it will fail.

²⁸Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me.

⁵Next to him, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.

¹Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.

²The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.

¹⁰At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,

¹¹and many false prophets will arise and deceive many.

⁷and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them

⁵the descendants of Arah, 775;

¹⁰the descendants of Arah, 652;

⁴Next to them, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to him, Meshullam son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs; and next to him, Zadok son of Baana made repairs as well.

³⁰Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, as well as Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs opposite his own quarters.

¹⁸Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.

⁹For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

¹¹Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?

⁴Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.

¹³He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me.

⁵They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them.