The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work.

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews

before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria, and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

When the Jews who lived nearby arrived, they said to us time and again, “Everywhere you turn, they attack us.”

There were 150 Jews and officials, as well as guests from the surrounding nations at my table.

In it was written:

It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews plan to rebel. This is the reason you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king

In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.