so I replied by sending this message to them: “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?”
Parallel translations
- WEB I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I can’t come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?”
- KJV And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
- BSB So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to go down to you?”
- NKJV So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”
- NASB So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and am unable to come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Nehemiah declines, saying he is doing a great work and will not let it stop to come down to them. He refuses to be distracted from his God-given task.
Overview
Nehemiah's reply is a model of focused conviction: the work is too important to abandon for a needless meeting. He recognizes the invitation as a distraction and keeps his priorities clear. His resolve illustrates the wisdom of guarding one's God-given calling against schemes meant to derail it (Luke 9:62).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- John 9:4I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.
- Matt 10:16“Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
- 1 Tim 4:15–16Be diligent in these things. Give yourself wholly to them, that your progress may be revealed to all.
- Prov 14:15A simple man believes everything, but the prudent man carefully considers his ways.
- Luke 14:30saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’
- Eccl 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 6:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.