Nehemiah 6
1 Tapang loe ka sak pacoeng boeh, toe to nathuem ah khongkha hoi thoknawk to ka sah ai vop pongah, tapang loe khongkha sak hanah akhaw paawh ai vop, tiah Saballat, Tobiah, Arab kami Geshem hoi kalah kaicae ih misanawk mah thaih o naah;
Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and our other enemies heard [a report] that we had finished rebuilding the wall, and that now there were no more (gaps/places where the wall was not finished) (although we had not yet put the doors in the gates).
2 Sanballat hoi Geshem mah, Angzo ah, Ono tangtling ih avang ah angqum o si, tiah ang kawk. Toe nihnik loe ka nuiah kasae sak pacaenghaih hoiah ni ang kawk, tiah ka panoek.
So Sanballat and Geshem sent [a message] to me, in which they said “Come and talk with us at a place in Ono Plain [north of Jerusalem].” But [I knew that] really they wanted to harm me [if I went there].
3 To pongah nihnik khaeah laicaeh ka patoeh moe, Kalen parai tok ka sak pongah, kang zo tathuk thai mak ai. Tih sak han ih maw tok to ka caeh taak moe, nanghnik khaeah kang zoh han? tiah ka thuisak.
So I sent messengers to them, to tell them, “I am doing an important work, and I cannot go down [there]. (Why should I stop doing this work just to go down to [talk with] you?/I do not want to stop doing this work just to go down to [talk with] you.)” [RHQ]
4 To tiah vai palito ang kawk hoi; kaimah doeh hmaloe ih lok baktih toengah ka pathim pae.
They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
5 Vai pangato haih naah loe, Sanballat mah a tamna to ang patoeh, tacik daeng ai ih ca to ang sinsak moe, hmaloe ih baktiah lok ang thuih;
Then Sanballat sent one of his servants to me, bringing a fifth message. This one was written, but it was not sealed. [He did that in order that others would read the message that the servant was carrying] in his hand.
6 to ih ca pongah, Nang hoi Judahnawk loe misa angthawk hanah nam sak o, tiah Sithaw panoek ai kaminawk salakah amthang, Gashmu mah doeh thuih; Judahnawk ih siangpahrang ah oh han na koeh pongah ni, tapang hae na sak let.
This is what was written in the message: “Some people in the nearby countries have heard a report that you and the other Jews are rebuilding the wall [in order to be able to resist attacks], because you are planning to revolt [against the king of Babylon]. And the report also says that you are planning to become the king [of the Israelis]. Geshem says that what they have reported is true.
7 Judah prae thungah siangpahrang maeto oh boeh, tiah nang ih kawng to thuih hanah, tahmaa doeh na suek; hae lok hae siangpahrang khaeah phak han oh. To pongah angzoh loe, lok nawnto aram o si, tiah oh.
[People are also saying that] you have appointed some prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem that you, [Nehemiah, ] are now the king in Judea. King [Artaxerxes] will certainly hear these reports, [and then you will be in big trouble]. So I suggest that we should meet together to talk about this matter.”
8 Kai mah anih khaeah, Na thuih ih lok baktiah sak ih hmuen tidoeh om ai; palung thung hoi na poek rumram ih lok ni na thuih, tiah ka pathim pae.
[When I read that message, ] I sent [the messenger] back to Sanballat to say, “None of what you are saying is true. You have (made this up/concocted this) in your own head/mind.”
9 Toksak thazoksak moe, toksak pacoeng han ai ah, kaicae to ang pazih o; toe kai mah, Aw Sithaw, ka ban hae thacaksak ah, tiah lawk ka thuih.
[I said that because I knew that] they were trying to cause us to be afraid, with the result that we would stop working [on the wall]. So I actually became more determined (OR, I prayed to God to help me) [to continue the work].
10 To pacoeng loe Mehetabeel capa Delaiah, Delaiah capa Shemaiah im ah ka caeh, anih loe thok angkhah khoep; anih mah, im thung ih Sithaw imthung ah angqum hoi si, im thok kha khoep si; nang hum hanah angzo o tih, ue, nang hum hanah khoving ah angzo o tih, tiah ang naa.
[One day] I went to talk with Shemaiah, son of Delaiah and grandson of Mehetabel. I went to talk with him in his house, because he was not able (OR, allowed) to leave his house. He said to me, “You and I must enter the very sacred place in the temple and lock the doors, because people are going to come to kill you at night.”
11 Toe kai mah, Kai baktih kami loe cawn tih, tiah na poek maw? Kai baktih kami loe a hinghaih loih hanah im thungah cawn ueloe, anghawk tih maw? Ka cawn mak ai, tiah ka naa.
I replied, “I (am not that kind of person/do not do things like that) [RHQ]! I would not run and hide in the temple to save my life! No, I will not do that!”
12 Khenah, to kami loe Sithaw mah patoeh ih kami na ai ni, kai aling hanah Tobiah hoi Sanballat mah tangka paek moe, tlai ih kami ni, tiah ka panoek;
When I thought [about what he had said], I realized that God had not told Shemaiah to say that to me. I realized that Tobiah and Sanballat had bribed him [to say that to me].
13 kai to pazih moe, kahoih ai hmuen saksak khue ai ah, kai ih ahmin kasae thuih han koeh pongah ni, to kami to a tlai.
They had bribed him to cause me to be afraid. They wanted me to [disobey God’s commands and] sin [by hiding in the temple]. If I did that, they would be able to ruin my reputation [MTY] and discredit me.
14 Aw ka Sithaw, angmah hnik ih loknawk baktih toengah, Tobiah hoi Sanballat to pahnet hmah loe, kai pazih hanah lokthui tahmaa nongpata, Noadiah hoi kalah tahmaanawk doeh pahnet hmah, tiah Sithaw khaeah ka hnik.
[So I prayed, ] “My God, do not forget what Tobiah and Sanballat have done. Punish them. And do not forget that the female prophet Noadiah and some of the other prophets have also tried to cause me to be afraid.”
15 Ni quipangato akra pacoeng, Elul khrah, pumphae pangato niah, tapang to pacoeng o.
On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
16 Misanawk mah to tamthang to thaih o moe, ataeng ih Sithaw panoek ai kaminawk mah tapang to hnuk o naah, hae tok loe kaicae ih Sithaw mah abomh pongah ni pacoeng o, tiah nihcae mah panoek o pongah, zithaih palungthin a tawnh o.
When our enemies in the nearby countries heard about that, they realized that they had been humiliated, because everyone knew that it was because God helped us that we had been able to do this work [and that they had not been able to force us to quit].
17 To atue nathuem ah Judah angraengnawk mah Tobiah khaeah paroeai ca a pat pae o boeh; Tobiah mah palaem ih ca doeh nihcae khaeah phak.
During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.
18 Tobiah loe Arab kami Shekaniah canu ih sava ah oh moe, anih capa Johanan mah Berekiah capa Meshullam ih canu to zu haih pongah, paroeai Judah kaminawk loe anih khaeah lokkamhaih to sak o.
Many people in Judea were closely associated with Tobiah, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah. Furthermore, Tobiah’s son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berekiah.
19 Tobiah mah sak ih kahoih hmuennawk to nihcae mah kai khaeah ang thuih o, ka thuih ih lok doeh anih khaeah thuih pae o. To naah Tobiah mah kai pazihhaih ca to ang pat.
People often talked in my presence about all the good things that Tobiah had done, and then they would tell him everything that I said. So Tobiah sent many letters to me to try to cause me to become afraid.
