Nehemiah 6
1 Vongtung ka sak uh te Sanballat, Tobiah, Arab Geshem neh kaimih thunkha coihpaih loh a yaak. Te vaengah a khuikah a puut tah hmaai voel pawt dae te vaeng tue hil vongka ah thohkhaih ka buen hlan.
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 Te dongah Sanballat neh Geshem loh kai taengla ol han tah tih, “Ha lo lamtah Ono kolbawn kah sathuengca ah tuentah uh rhoi sih,” a ti. Tedae amih te kai taengah boethae huet hamla cai uh.
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 Amih rhoi taengla puencawn rhoek te ka tueih tih, “Bibi tung he ka saii dongah suntlak ham ka coeng moenih. Balae tih bitat he ka toeng eh? Te te ka hlong vetih nang taengla ka suntla aya?
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 He ol he kai taengla voei li ham pat uh coeng dae amih te he tlam ni ol ka mael.
They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
5 A voei nga nah dongah khaw he kah ol bangla Sanballat loh kai taengla a taengca kut neh ham pat dae ca te a kut dongah a ong coeng.
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 A khuikah a daek te namtom lakli neh Geshem te a yaak sak tih, “Nang neh Judah rhoek hlang tah tloelh ham ka moeh eh na ti rhoi. He dongah ni nang loh vongtung he na tlaih. Nang te he kah ol bangla amih taengah manghai la na om la te.
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 Tonghma rhoek pataeng Jerusalem ah nang kawng aka doek la, Judah ah manghai om tih he ol bangla manghai taengah yaak sak pawn saeh, halo lamtah tun dawt uh thae pawn sih,’ aka ti hamla na pai sak,”.
[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 Te vaengah anih te ol ka pat tih, “Na thui ol bang he a om noek moenih. Tedae te te na lungbuei lamkah na thainawn,” ka ti nah.
[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 A pum la kaimih n'hih uh tih, “Bibi dongah a kut kha uh vetih saii uh mahpawh,” ti mai cakhaw ka kut he ham moem laeh.
[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 Te phoeiah kamah te Mehetabel koca, Delaiah capa Shemaiah im la ka pawk. Te vaengah anih te ying tih, “Bawkim khui kah Pathen im ah hum uh rhoi sih. Nang aka ngawn ham te ha pawk dongah bawkim thohkhaih te khai sih. Khoyin ah khaw nang aka ngawn ham hlang te ha pawk,” a ti.
[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 Tedae, “Kai bang hlang he yong a? Kai bang he unim bawkim khuila kun vetih a hing eh? Ka kun mahpawh,” ka ti nah.
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 Te vaengah Pathen loh anih tueih pawt la he tila ka hmat. Tedae anih te Tobiah neh Sanballat loh a paang dongah ni kai taengah tonghma ol a thui.
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 hih tih he tla ka saii vaengah kai tholh sak ham neh amih taengah ming thae la om sak ham anih te a paang tangloeng, kai he m'veet uh tangloeng.
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 Ka Pathen aw, Tobiah taeng neh Sanballat taengah khaw, tonghmanu Noadiah taeng neh tonghma a noi rhoek taengah kaw, a khoboe bangla thoelh pah. Amih te kai aka hih rhoek ni.
[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 Te cakhaw Elul pakul panga kah sawmnga neh hnin nit vaengah tah vongtung a khah uh.
On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
16 Ka thunkha boeih loh a yaak uh tih kaimih kaep kah namtom boeih loh a rhih dongah a maelhmai rhep a buenglueng uh. Bitat a saii he kaimih kah Pathen taeng lamkah ni tila a ming uh.
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 Te vaeng khohnin ah Judah hlangcoelh rhoek loh amih ca te Tobiah taengla muep a pha sak tih Tobiah taeng lamkah te khaw amih taengla cet.
During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.
18 Arah capa Shekaniah loh Tobiah a cava nah tih a capa Jehohanan long khaw Berekiah capa Meshullam canu te a loh dongah Judah kah boei rhoek khaw anih taengah olhlo neh muep omuh.
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 Ka mikhmuh ah a then aka thui khaw om uh tih a taengla kai ol aka thak khaw om uh. Tobiah long khaw kai hih hamla ca ham 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.
