Nehemia 6
1 Ka wach nobiro ne Sanbalat, Tobia, Geshem ma ja-Arabu kod wasikwa mamoko modongʼ nine wagero ohinga kendo ne onge kamoro amora mane otuch, kata obedo ni e sechego ne pod ok aguro dhorangach.
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 Sanbalat kod Geshem noorona wach kama: “Bi mondo warom e achiel kuom mier mantiere e holo mar Ono.” To ma ne en mana riekogi mar hinya;
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 omiyo ne aoronegi jaote gi dwoko niya, “An kod tich maduongʼ kendo ok anyal lor piny. Ere gima tangʼ mi tich chungʼ mi aweye kendo alor piny abi iri?”
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 Ne giorona wach achielni nyadingʼwen, to seche duto ne amiyogi dwoko machalre.
They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
5 Eka, e ote mar abich, Sanbalat noorona jakonyne mana gi wach achielni, kendo e lwete ne nitie baruwa ma ok omuon
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 mane ondike niya: “Oselandi e dier ogendini, kendo Geshem osewacho ni en adier ni in kod jo-Yahudi uchano mar monjowa, to ma emomiyo ugero ohingani. Kendo kaluwore gi wach moselandore en ni idwaro bedo ruodhgi
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 kendo iseyiero jonabi mondo okor wachni Jerusalem ni, ‘Nitiere ruoth e piny Juda!’ Koro wachni biro dwogone ruoth; omiyo bi, mondo wapim wachni.”
[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 Ne aorone dwoko niya, “Gima iwachono ok en adier; mano iparo mana gi pachi owuon.”
[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 Ne gitemo mana mar bwogowa, kagiwacho niya, “Lwetgi biro bedo mayom yom, kendo ok gibi tieko tijni.” To ne alemo niya, “Yie imi lweta obed gi teko koro.”
[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 Chiengʼ moro achiel ne adhi e od Shemaya wuod Delaya, ma wuod Mehetabel, mane olorne ei dalane. Nowacho niya, “We warom e od Nyasaye, ei hekalu, kendo mondo walor dhout hekalu, nikech gibiro negi gotienoni.”
[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 To ne awacho niya, “Bende dichwo machalo koda kama diringi? Koso ngʼato kaka an nyalo dhi ei hekalu mondo ores ngimane? Ok abi dhi kata nade!”
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 Ne afwenyo ni Nyasaye ne ok oore, to ne osekoro wach kuoma nikech Tobia kod Sanbalat ne osengʼiewe mar timo kamano.
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 Ne osengʼiewe mondo obwoga eka atim richo mar timo ma, bangʼe gimiya nying marach mar njawo kita.
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 Par Tobia kod Sanbalat, yaye Nyasacha, kuom gima gisetimo; par bende janabi madhako miluongo ni Noadia kod jonabi mamoko mosetemo bwoga.
[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 Omiyo gedo mar ohinga norumo e odiechiengʼ mar piero ariyo gabich mar Elul, kendo gedono nokawo ndalo piero abich gariyo.
On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
16 Ka wasikwa duto nowinjo ma, ogendini molworowa luoro nomako kendo chunygi nobwok, nikech negifwenyo ni tijni notim gi teko mar Nyasachwa.
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 Bende, e ndalogo joka ruoth ma Juda ne oro barupe mangʼeny ne Tobia, kendo dwoko mag Tobia ne medo bironegi.
During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.
18 Nimar ji mangʼeny Juda nokwongʼorene, nikech ne en or Shekania wuod Ara, to wuode Jehohanan nonywomo nyar Meshulam wuod Berekia.
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 Kata kamano, negisiko ka gikelona wach mar timne maber kendo nyise gima awacho. To Tobia nodhi nyime ka orona barupe mondo gibwogago.
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.
