Nehemiah 6:1-6

1We had finished building the city's wall. There were no holes in it now, but we had not fixed the doors in the gates. Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem (the Arab) and all our enemies heard that we had finished building the wall.

2Sanballat and Geshem sent this message to me: ‘Come and meet with us in a village on the low land of Ono.’ I realized that they wanted to cause trouble for me.

3So I sent this message back to them: ‘I am too busy to come and meet you. The work here is too important. I cannot stop the work here to come and meet you.’

4They sent me the same message four times. Each time, I refused.

5Then Sanballat sent his officer to me with a fifth message. He carried a letter that was open for anyone to read.

6This is what the letter said: ‘To Nehemiah. Other nations have heard the news that you and the other Jews have decided to turn against the king. Geshem also says that this is true. This is why you are building the city's wall. People are saying that you want to rule the Jews as their king.