Nehemiah 6:8
Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.
The reply is a plain denial that the things reported had been done at all, declaring them invented out of the accuser's own heart and mind rather than resting on any true report. That rejection of the accusations as falsehoods coming from the accusers' own minds is set over against treachery on one side and nobility and devotion on the other. The specific charge denied is that he and the Jews intended rebellion and that he was seeking to make himself their king. The inventor of that charge was Sanballat, working through an open letter.
The lie was meant to frighten and intimidate the people and the builders, to weaken their hands and their efforts to finish Jerusalem's wall and to stop the work. It was also meant to frighten Nehemiah himself and to draw him into a trap. He showed discernment by recognizing the falsehood for what it was, remaining confident that the rumors were false, and answering plainly and firmly without leaving or abandoning the work. Opposition to God's work may use just such false accusations to obstruct it, and this kind of opposition would recur.