Nehemia 4
1 Kane Sanbalat owinjo ni wasechako gero ohinga, iye nowangʼ kendo mirima nomake. Ne ojaro jo-Yahudi,
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the city wall, he was very angry. He was enraged/furious. He made fun of us Jews.
2 e nyim joma ne giriworego kod jolweny mag jo-Samaria, mowachonegi niya, “En angʼo ma jo-Yahudi manyapgi timo ka? Bende gibiro chako gero ohingano? Bende gibiro chiwo misango? Bende gibiro tieke godiechiengʼ achiel? Bende gibiro miyo kitegi bedo mangima ka gia e pith mag yugigo, kaka owangʼ-gi malichni?”
While his colleagues and officials of the army troops who had come from Samaria were listening, he said, “What do these feeble/pathetic Jews [think they] are doing? Do they think that if they offer enough/many sacrifices, [their gods will hear them and enable] them to finish building the wall in one day? The stones [that were in the wall previously have been weakened by] being burned in a fire. Those stones that they are pulling out of the rubbish/garbage heaps—do they think that they can make them strong again?” [RHQ]
3 Tobia ma ja-Amon, mane ochungʼ e bathe, nowacho niya, “Ohinga ma gigerono, kata ka kibwe ema oidho, to obiro ruombore piny!”
Tobiah was [standing] beside Sanballat. He said, “That stone wall [that they are building] is very weak; so if even a fox climbed up on it, the wall would fall down!”
4 Winjwa, yaye Nyasachwa, nimar osejarwa. Mad idwok ayenjegi e wigi giwegi. Mad ichiwgi kaka wasumbini e piny mabor ka joma oter e twech.
Then I prayed. I said, “Our God, hear us, because they are ridiculing us! Cause the words of their insults to fall back on them! Allow their enemies to come and capture them and force them to go to a foreign land!
5 Kik ium gigo magisetimo ma ok odhi kare kata iruch richogi e nyim wangʼi, nimar gisediro ayenje e wangʼ jogedo.
They are guilty; they have [said things that] caused you to be angry while the people here who are building the wall are listening; so punish them!”
6 Omiyo ne wagero ohinga nyaka ne ochopo nus mar borne, nikech ji notiyo gi chunygi duto.
But after some time, we finished building the wall around the whole city, up to half as high as the first wall had been. We were able to do that because we worked very hard.
7 To ka Sanbalat, Tobia, jo-Arabu, jo-Amon kod jo-Ashdod nowinjo ni loso ohinga mar Jerusalem osedhi nyime to kendo ni kuonde motuch ne idino, igi nowangʼ ahinya.
But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the men from Arabia, the people from the Ammon [people-group] and from Ashdod [city] heard that the work on the wall was continuing and that we were filling in the gaps in the wall, they became very angry.
8 Negichokore giduto mondo gibi giked gi Jerusalem kendo gimi ji obed gi luoro.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 To ne walamo Nyasachwa mi waketo jorito odiechiengʼ gotieno mondo gigengʼ kihondkoni.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 Kuom mano, jo-Juda nowacho niya, “Pidhe mag kuonde momukore ngʼeny, to teko joma gologi odok chien, omiyo koro ok wanyal dhi nyime gigero ohinga.”
Then the people of [MTY] Judah started to say, “The men who are working [on the wall] are becoming very tired. There is a lot of [heavy] rubble that we must remove; we ourselves cannot finish the work.
11 Wasikwa bende nowacho niya, “Ka pod ok gi ngʼeyo kata ka pod ok gi nenowa, to wabiro poree e diergi kendo wabiro negogi mi wachung tich.”
“Besides, our enemies are saying, ‘Before the Jews see us, we will swoop down on them and kill them and stop their work [on the wall]!’”
12 Bangʼe jo-Yahudi mane odak mokiewo kodgi nobiro kendo okonewa nyadipar niya, “Gibiro monjou kamoro ma udhiyoe.”
The Jews who were living near our enemies came and told us many times, “You should leave the city and go to other places, in order that your enemies will not attack you!”
13 Emomiyo ne aketo jomoko e tok ohinga kuonde modok gi piny ma ginyalo nenogo wasigu ka aketogi dala ka dala, ka gin-gi ligengni, tonge kod atungʼ.
So I put guards at the places where the wall was not very high yet and at places where there were gaps in the wall. I put guards to protect each of their family groups. I gave the guards daggers, spears, and bows [and arrows].
14 Kane asenono gigi maber, ne achungo malo kendo awachone joka ruoth, jotelo kod joma moko niya, “Kik uluorgi. Par Ruoth Nyasaye, maduongʼ kendo malich, kendo ukedne oweteu, yawuotu kod nyiu, mondeu, kod miechu.”
Then after I inspected everything, I summoned the leaders and [other] officials and [many of] the other people, and I said to them, “Do not be afraid of our enemies! Think about [what] Yahweh, who is great and glorious, [can do]! And fight to protect your friends, your families, and your homes!”
15 Ka wasikwa nowinjo ni wasefwenyo chenro margi kendo ni Nyasaye ne oseketho parogi, ne wadok wate e gero ohinga, ngʼato ka ngʼato e tichne.
Our enemies heard that we knew what they were planning to do and that God had (spoiled their plans/prevented them from doing what they planned). [But we were sure that God would defend us, ] so we all started to work on the wall again.
16 Kochakore e odiechiengno, nus mar joga notiyo tijno, to nus modongʼ nomanore gi tongʼ, okumba, atungʼ kod gige lweny mag akor. Jotelo nochungʼ e tok jo-Juda duto
But after that, only half of the men who were working for me worked on the wall. The others stood there on guard, holding their spears, shields, bows [and arrows], and [wearing their] coats made of metal plates. [To encourage the people] were building the wall, their leaders stood behind them.
17 mane gero ohinga. Joma ne otingʼo gige gedo ne tiyo gi lwetgi, to lwetgi komachielo otingʼo gir lweny,
Those who carried [baskets of supplies on their heads/shoulders] and those who built the wall did their work with one hand, and held a weapon with the other hand.
18 to jagedo ka jagedo notingʼo liganglane e bathe kodhi nyime kod tich. To ngʼatno mane goyo turumbete nodongʼ koda.
All those who were building [the wall] had a dagger fastened to their side. The man who would blow the trumpet [if our enemies attacked] was standing at my side.
19 Bangʼe ne awachone joka ruoth, jotelo kod joma moko niya, “Tich ngʼeny kendo pek, to wangelore e kor ohingani.
Then I said to the officials, the other important men, and the other people, “This wall is very long, and we are far apart from each other along the wall.
20 Kamoro amora ma uwinjo ka turumbete oywakie, to yworwauru kanyo. Nyasachwa biro kedonwa!”
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 Omiyo ne wadhi nyime gi tich ka nus mar jowa otingʼo tongʼ, kochakore kogwen nyaka sa ma piny imore.
So we continued to work. Half of the men continued to hold their spears all day, from when the sun rose [in the morning] until the stars appeared [at night].
22 E sechego ne awachone ji niya, “Ket ngʼato ka ngʼato kod jakonyne obed ei Jerusalem gotieno, mondo omi gibed jorito gotieno, to giti godiechiengʼ.”
At that time, I also said to the people, “Tell every worker and his helper that they must stay inside Jerusalem at night. By doing that, they can guard us at night, and they can work [on the wall] during the daytime.”
23 An, kata owetena kata joga kata jorit mane ni koda ne ok ogolo lepgi; moro ka moro notingʼo liganglane mar lweny, kata mana ka wadhi tuomo pi.
During that time, none of us ever took off our clothes (OR, we wore our clothes all the time)—I and my relatives and my workers and the guards who were with me. And we had our weapons with us, in our hands.
