1 Bad men named Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem heard the wall was up. The doors on the gates were not on yet. 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent a note, “Come meet us at Ono.” But they wanted to hurt Nehemiah. ✉️⚠️ 3 Nehemiah sent back, “I am busy with big work. I cannot come. I will not stop the work.” ️⛏️ 4 They asked four times. Nehemiah gave the same answer each time. 5 Sanballat sent his helper a fifth time with an open note for all to see. 6 The note said, “People say you and the Jews want to fight the king. They say you want to be king. That is why you build the wall.” ️ 7 The note said, “You set people to say you are king. We will tell the king. Come talk to us.” ️ 8 Nehemiah sent back, “This is not true. You made it up.” ✋❌ 9 They tried to make us afraid so we would stop work. Nehemiah prayed, “God, make my hands strong.” 10 Nehemiah went to Shemaiah. He said, “Hide in God’s house. Close the doors. Bad men will come at night to kill you.” ♂️ 11 Nehemiah said, “I will not run. I will not go into God’s house to hide.” ♂️⛪ 12 Nehemiah knew God did not send Shemaiah. Tobiah and Sanballat paid him. 13 They paid him to make Nehemiah afraid, so he would do wrong and they could shame him. ➡️ 14 Nehemiah prayed, “God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat and Noadiah and others who tried to scare me.” 15 The wall was done in 52 days. 16 All the bad people around heard it. They were afraid. They knew God helped us do the work. 17 In those days leaders in Judah sent many notes to Tobiah. Tobiah also sent notes to them. ✍️↔️✍️ 18 Many people were family with Tobiah by marry. Tobiah married into Shecaniah’s family. His son Jehohanan married Meshullam’s daughter. 19 They told Nehemiah good things about Tobiah and told Tobiah what Nehemiah said. Tobiah sent notes to scare Nehemiah. ️➡️