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The Enemy's Plot |
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| Nehemiah 6:1 |
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Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah,
to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall,
and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the
doors in the gates, |
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| Nehemiah 6:2 |
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then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to
me, saying, "Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono." But
they were planning to harm me. |
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| Nehemiah 6:3 |
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So 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?" |
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| Nehemiah 6:4 |
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They sent messages to me four times in this
manner, and I answered them in the same way. |
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| Nehemiah 6:5 |
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Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the
same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. |
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| Nehemiah 6:6 |
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In it was written, "It is reported among the
nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore
you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these
reports. |
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| Nehemiah 6:7 |
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"You have also appointed prophets to proclaim
in Jerusalem concerning you, 'A king is in Judah!' And now it will be reported
to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together."
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| Nehemiah 6:8 |
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Then I sent a message to him saying, "Such things
as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind."
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| Nehemiah 6:9 |
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For all of them were trying to frighten us,
thinking, "They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done."
But now, O God, strengthen my hands. |
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| Nehemiah 6:10 |
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When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son
of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, 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, and they are coming to kill you at
night." |
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| Nehemiah 6:11 |
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But I said, "Should a man like me flee? And
could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in." |
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| Nehemiah 6:12 |
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Then I perceived that surely God had not sent
him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired
him. |
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| Nehemiah 6:13 |
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He was hired for this reason, that I might become
frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report
in order that they could reproach me. |
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| Nehemiah 6:14 |
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Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according
to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the
prophets who were trying to frighten me. |
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The Wall Is Finished |
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| Nehemiah 6:15 |
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So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth
of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. |
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| Nehemiah 6:16 |
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When all our enemies heard of it, and all the
nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized
that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. |
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| Nehemiah 6:17 |
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Also in those days many letters went from the
nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. |
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| Nehemiah 6:18 |
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For many in Judah were bound by oath to him
because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan
had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. |
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| Nehemiah 6:19 |
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Moreover, they were speaking about his good
deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to
frighten me. |
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