Nehemiah 6
1 Hatnavah, khopui longkha ka cum awh hoeh rah eiteh, khopui rapan teh a cak toe tie Sanballat hoi Tobiah hoi Arab tami Geshem hoi alouke tarannaw ni kamthang a thai awh toteh,
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 ni tho haw, Ono hmuen koe kâhmo awh sei telah kahawihoehe pouknae hoi lawk na thui.
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 Kai ni hai, patounenaw ka patoun teh, kai teh thaw kalenpounge ka tawk dawkvah ka tho thai mahoeh. Bangkong hete thawnaw ka ceitakhai vaiteh, nangmouh koe khuet ka tho han vaw telah lawk bout ka thaisak van.
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 Hottelah, vai pali touh hane lawk na thui eiteh, hettelah doeh boutbout ka dei pouh.
They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
5 Hat torei teh, Sanballat ni hottelah ca bout a thut teh, paawng tangcoung e ca a sanpa buet touh koe a phu sak.
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 Ca dawk thut lah kaawm e teh, nang hoi Judahnaw ni kâtaran hane na noe awh dawkvah, rapan na pathoup awh titeh alouke miphunnaw ni a dei awh. Geshem ni hai a dei. Hete lawk hoi kâkuen lah nang teh Judah siangpahrang lah o han na ngai dawk doeh.
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 ram dawk siangpahrang ao telah na kong hah siangpahrang koevah karanglah a kamthang han. Hatdawkvah, tho nateh kâdeikâpan sei telah ca a thut.
[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 Hatnavah, kai ni hai lawk na dei e naw buet touh hai atang nahoeh. Na pouk e na dei rumram e doeh telah tami buet touh ka tha te ka dei sak.
[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 Bangkongtetpawiteh, ahnimouh ni a tawk e thawnaw teh cum thai awh mahoeh, thayoun awh han doeh telah pouk lahoi na pakhinae doeh. Hatdawkvah, atuteh oe Cathut ka kutnaw hah tha awm sak haw.
[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 Hahoi, Mehetabel capa, Delai capa Shemaiah ni kâhronae im dawk ka cei navah ahni ni Cathut e im Bawkim thung kâhmo awh vaiteh, Bawkim thonaw khan awh sei. Nang ka thet hane taminaw a tho awh han, tangmin nakunghai a tho awh han telah 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 Kai nihai, kai patetlah e tami ni khuet ka yawng han namaw. Kai hoi kâvan e tami ni a hring nahanelah Bawkim thung kâen han namaw, ka kâen mahoeh ka ti pouh.
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 Hahoi kai ni ka thai panuek e teh, Cathut ni a tha e nahoeh. Kai hoi kâtaran lah sutdeilawk a pathang e doeh. Tobiah hoi Sanballat ni a hlai roi e doeh.
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 Bangkongtetpawiteh, hottelah ka sak lahoi yonnae sak sak vaiteh, na pathoe hane a ngai dawk, a hlai e doeh.
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 Oe ka Cathut, hettelah ka sak e Tobiah hoi Sanballat hoi profet napui Noadiah hoi alouke profetnaw hah pahnim han.
[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 Rapan a cum awh teh, hnin 52 hnukkhu, Elul thapa hnin 25 nah ka cum awh.
On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
16 Hote kamthang teh tarannaw ni a thai awh teh, alouke miphunnaw ni rapan a hmu awh navah, puenghoi a taki awh teh, hete hnonaw heh Cathut ni a sak e doeh tie a panue awh.
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 Hatnavah, Judah bawinaw ni Tobiah koe ca moi a patoun awh teh, Tobiah koe e ca hai a hmu awh.
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 teh Arah capa, Shekaniah e cava lah ao teh, a capa Jehohanan Berekhiah, capa Meshullam, canu hoi ao roi dawkvah, Judahnaw ni Tobiah koe lawk a kam awh.
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 Ahnimouh ni Tobiah hnokahawi a sak e naw hah kai koe bout a dei awh. Kaie lawk hai ahni koe bout a dei pouh awh. Ahnimouh ni hai kai ni taki sak nahane ca bout na poe.
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.
