14 Keep in mind, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat and what they did, and Noadiah, the woman prophet, and the rest of the prophets whose purpose was to put fear into me.
Keep them in mind, O my God, because they have put shame on the priests' name and on the agreement of the priests and the Levites.
Alexander the copper-worker did me much wrong: the Lord will give him the reward of his works: But be on the watch for him, for he was violent in his attacks on our teaching.
And it came about in that year, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azzur the prophet, who came from Gibeon, said to Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, before the priests and all the people,
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs before him, by which they were turned from the true way who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image: these two were put living into the sea of ever-burning fire.
If a man sees his brother doing a sin which is not bad enough for death, let him make a prayer to God, and God will give life to him whose sin was not bad enough for death. There is a sin whose punishment is death: I do not say that he may make such a request then.
For there will come up false Christs, and false prophets, who will do great signs and wonders; so that if possible even the saints might be tricked.
And a number of false prophets will come, causing error.
Even the prophets of Israel who say words to Jerusalem, who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace, says the Lord. And you, son of man, let your face be turned against the daughters of your people, who are acting the part of prophets at their pleasure; be a prophet against them, and say,
Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, Give ear, now, Hananiah; the Lord has not sent you; but you are making this people put their faith in what is false.
And the Lord said, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so. And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has said evil against you. Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you?
Is evil to be the reward of good? for they have made a deep hole for my soul. Keep in mind how I took my place before you, to say a good word for them so that your wrath might be turned away from them. For this cause, let their children be without food, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives be without children and become widows; let their men be overtaken by death, and their young men be put to the sword in the fight. Let a cry for help go up from their houses, when you send an armed band on them suddenly: for they have made a hole in which to take me, and have put nets for my feet secretly. But you, Lord, have knowledge of all the designs which they have made against my life; let not their evil-doing be covered or their sin be washed away from before your eyes: but let it be a cause of falling before you: so do to them in the time of your wrath.
So this is what the Lord has said about the prophets who make use of my name, though I sent them not, and say, The sword and need of food will not be in this land: the sword and need of food will put an end to those prophets.
But, O Lord of armies, judging in righteousness, testing the thoughts and the heart, let me see your punishment come on them: for I have put my cause before you. So this is what the Lord of armies has said about the men of Anathoth who have made designs against your life, saying, You are not to be a prophet in the name of the Lord, or death will overtake you by our hands: So the Lord of armies has said, See, I will send punishment on them: the young men will be put to the sword; their sons and their daughters will come to death through need of food: Not one of them will keep his life, for I will send evil on the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.
The men of pride have put secret cords for my feet; stretching nets in my way, so that they may take me with their tricks. (Selah.) I have said to the Lord, You are my God: give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my prayer. O Lord God, the strength of my salvation, you have been a cover over my head in the day of the fight. O Lord, give not the wrongdoer his desire; give him no help in his evil designs, or he may be uplifted in pride. (Selah.) As for those who come round me, let their heads be covered by the evil of their lips. Let burning flames come down on them: let them be put into the fire, and into deep waters, so that they may not get up again. Let not a man of evil tongue be safe on earth: let destruction overtake the violent man with blow on blow.
<A Psalm. Of David. When he was in the waste land of Judah.> O God, you are my God; early will I make my search for you: my soul is dry for need of you, my flesh is wasted with desire for you, as a dry and burning land where no water is;
<To the chief music-maker on Aijeleth-hash-shahar. A Psalm. Of David.> My God, my God, why are you turned away from me? why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my crying?
Keep in mind, O my God, for my good, all I have done for this people.
Give ear, O our God, for we are looked down on: let their words of shame be turned back on themselves, and let them be given up to wasting in a land where they are prisoners: Let not their wrongdoing be covered or their sin washed away from before you: for they have made you angry before the builders.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Nehemiah 6
Commentary on Nehemiah 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
The cries of oppressed poverty being stilled, we are now to enquire how the building of the wall goes forward, and in this chapter we find it carried on with vigour and finished with joy, notwithstanding the restless attempts of the gates of hell to hinder it. How the Jews' enemies were baffled in their design to put a stop to it by force we read before, ch. 4. Here we find how their endeavours to drive Nehemiah off from it were frustrated.
Such as these were the struggles between the church and its enemies. But great is God's cause and it will be prosperous and victorious.
Neh 6:1-9
Two plots upon Nehemiah we have here an account of, how cunningly they were laid by his enemies and how happily frustrated by God's good providence and his prudence.
In the midst of his complaint of their malice, in endeavouring to frighten him, and so weaken his hands, he lifts up his heart to Heaven in this short prayer: Now therefore, O God! strengthen my hands. It is the great support and relief of good people that in all their straits and difficulties they have a good God to go to, from whom, by faith and prayer, they may fetch in grace to silence their fears and strengthen their hands when their enemies are endeavouring to fill them with fears and weaken their hands. When, in our Christian work and warfare, we are entering upon any particular services or conflicts, this is a good prayer for us to put up: "I have such a duty to do, such a temptation to grapple with; now therefore, O God! strengthen my hands.' Some read it, not as a prayer, but as a holy resolution (for O God is supplied in our translation): Now therefore I will strengthen my hands. Note, Christian fortitude will be sharpened by opposition. Every temptation to draw us from duty should quicken us so much the more to duty.
Neh 6:10-14
The Jews' enemies leave no stone unturned, no way untried, to take Nehemiah off from building the wall about Jerusalem. In order to this they had tried to fetch him into the country to them, but in vain; now they try to drive him into the temple for his own safety; let him be any where but at his work. Observing him to be a cautious man, they will endeavour to gain their point by making him cowardly. Observe,
Neh 6:15-19
Nehemiah is here finishing the wall of Jerusalem, and yet still has trouble created him by his enemies.