The Byble in Englyshe that is to saye, the content of all the holye scrypture, bothe of the olde and newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by the diligent studye of dyuers excellent lerned [men e]xperte in the fore[saide] tongues.

¶ The buyldynge so ye•• agayne hyndered, and le••••e.

CAPI. VI.

ANd when Sanabalat, Tobiah and Ge¦sem [unspec A] the Arabian, and the other of oure enemyes herde that I had buylded the wall, & that there were no mo gappes therin (howbeit at the same tyme had I not han∣ged the dores vpon the gates) Sanabalat & Gesem sent vnto me, sayenge: come, that we may mete & take counsel togyther in the vyl∣lages that are in the playne of the citye Ono. Neuerthelesse they thought to do me euyll. And I sent messengers vnto them, sayenge. I haue a great busynes to do, and I can not come downe. The worke shulde stande styll, yf I were ne••lygent, and came downe to you. Howbeit, they sent vnto me as good as. iiii. tymes after the same maner, & I gaue them the same answere.

Then sent Sanabalat his seruaunt a∣gayne [unspec B] vnto me the fyfth tyme, with an open letter in his hande, wherin was wrytten: it is tolde the heathen, and Gesem hath fayde it, that thou, and the Iues thynke to rebell: for the whiche cause thou buyldest the wall, that thou mayst be theyr kynge in these mat∣ters, and haste ordeyned the Prophettes to preache of the at Ierusalem, and to saye: He is kyng of Iuda. And nowe shall this come to the kynges eares: come now therfore, and let vs take our counsel togyther. And I sent vnto hym, saynge: There is no suche thyng{is} done as thou sayst: for thou faynest them out of thyne owne herte. For they were all myn∣ded to make vs afrayde, sayenge: they shall withdraw theyr handes from the worke, that it shall not be fynysshed. Howbeit, I streng∣thed my hande the more.

And I came vnto the house of Semaia [unspec C] the sonne of Delata, the son of Mehetabeel, and he had shut hym selfe within, and sayde: let vs come togyther into the house of God, euen vnto the myddes of the temple, & shut the dores of the temple: for they wyll come to sley the, yea euen in the nyght wyll they come to put the to death.

And I sayd: shulde any suche man as I flee?

Who is that, beynge as I am, that wyll go in to the temple, to saue his lyfe? I wyll not go in. And I perceyued, that god had not sent hym: yet spake he prophecie vpō me, ne∣uerthelesse Tobiah and Sanabalat had hy∣red hym for money. Therfore toke he the mo¦ney that through feare I shulde so do, & syn: that they myght haue an euyll reporte of me to blaspheme me. My God thynke thou vpō Tobiah, and Sanabalat, accordynge vnto these theyr workes, and of the prophet Noa∣dia, and of the other prophettes, that wolde haue put me in feare. And the wall was fy∣nysshed [unspec D] on the fyue and twentye daye of the moneth Elul, in two and fyftye dayes. And when all our enemyes herde therof, al the he∣then that were aboute vs, were afrayde, and theyr courage fayled them. And they percey∣ued, that this worke came of our god. And at the same tyme were there many of the cheyfe of Iuda, whose letters wente vnto Tobiah, & agayne from Tobiah vnto them (for there were many in Iuda that were sworne vnto hym: for he was the sonne in lawe of Secha∣nia the sonne of Arah, and his sonne Ieho∣nathan had the doughter of Mesullam the sonne of Barachia, and they spake good of hym before me, and tolde hym my wordes▪ & Tobiah sent letters to put me in feare.