< Nehemiah 4 >

1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews
καὶ ἐγένετο ἡνίκα ἤκουσεν Σαναβαλλατ ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἰκοδομοῦμεν τὸ τεῖχος καὶ πονηρὸν ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ ὠργίσθη ἐπὶ πολὺ καὶ ἐξεγέλα ἐπὶ τοῖς Ιουδαίοις
2 before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”
καὶ εἶπεν ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ αὕτη ἡ δύναμις Σομορων ὅτι οἱ Ιουδαῖοι οὗτοι οἰκοδομοῦσιν τὴν ἑαυτῶν πόλιν
3 Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”
καὶ Τωβιας ὁ αμμανίτης ἐχόμενα αὐτοῦ ἦλθεν καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς ἑαυτούς μὴ θυσιάσουσιν ἢ φάγονται ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου αὐτῶν οὐχὶ ἀναβήσεται ἀλώπηξ καὶ καθελεῖ τὸ τεῖχος λίθων αὐτῶν
4 Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.
ἄκουσον ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ὅτι ἐγενήθημεν εἰς μυκτηρισμόν καὶ ἐπίστρεψον ὀνειδισμὸν αὐτῶν εἰς κεφαλὴν αὐτῶν καὶ δὸς αὐτοὺς εἰς μυκτηρισμὸν ἐν γῇ αἰχμαλωσίας
5 Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.
καὶ μὴ καλύψῃς ἐπὶ ἀνομίαν
6 So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
7 When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,
καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἤκουσεν Σαναβαλλατ καὶ Τωβια καὶ οἱ Ἄραβες καὶ οἱ Αμμανῖται ὅτι ἀνέβη φυὴ τοῖς τείχεσιν Ιερουσαλημ ὅτι ἤρξαντο αἱ διασφαγαὶ ἀναφράσσεσθαι καὶ πονηρὸν αὐτοῖς ἐφάνη σφόδρα
8 and all of them conspired to come and fight against Jerusalem and create a hindrance.
καὶ συνήχθησαν πάντες ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐλθεῖν παρατάξασθαι ἐν Ιερουσαλημ
9 So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.
καὶ προσηυξάμεθα πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν καὶ ἐστήσαμεν προφύλακας ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν
10 Meanwhile, the people of Judah said: “The strength of the laborer fails, and there is so much rubble that we will never be able to rebuild the wall.”
καὶ εἶπεν Ιουδας συνετρίβη ἡ ἰσχὺς τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ ὁ χοῦς πολύς καὶ ἡμεῖς οὐ δυνησόμεθα οἰκοδομεῖν ἐν τῷ τείχει
11 And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”
καὶ εἶπαν οἱ θλίβοντες ἡμᾶς οὐ γνώσονται καὶ οὐκ ὄψονται ἕως ὅτου ἔλθωμεν εἰς μέσον αὐτῶν καὶ φονεύσωμεν αὐτοὺς καὶ καταπαύσωμεν τὸ ἔργον
12 At that time the Jews who lived nearby came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἤλθοσαν οἱ Ιουδαῖοι οἱ οἰκοῦντες ἐχόμενα αὐτῶν καὶ εἴποσαν ἡμῖν ἀναβαίνουσιν ἐκ πάντων τῶν τόπων ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς
13 So I stationed men behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.
καὶ ἔστησα εἰς τὰ κατώτατα τοῦ τόπου κατόπισθεν τοῦ τείχους ἐν τοῖς σκεπεινοῖς καὶ ἔστησα τὸν λαὸν κατὰ δήμους μετὰ ῥομφαιῶν αὐτῶν λόγχας αὐτῶν καὶ τόξα αὐτῶν
14 After I had made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἀνέστην καὶ εἶπα πρὸς τοὺς ἐντίμους καὶ πρὸς τοὺς στρατηγοὺς καὶ πρὸς τοὺς καταλοίπους τοῦ λαοῦ μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν μνήσθητε τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν τοῦ μεγάλου καὶ φοβεροῦ καὶ παρατάξασθε περὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν υἱῶν ὑμῶν καὶ θυγατέρων ὑμῶν γυναικῶν ὑμῶν καὶ οἴκων ὑμῶν
15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their scheme and that God had frustrated it, each of us returned to his own work on the wall.
καὶ ἐγένετο ἡνίκα ἤκουσαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἡμῶν ὅτι ἐγνώσθη ἡμῖν καὶ διεσκέδασεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν βουλὴν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπεστρέψαμεν πάντες ἡμεῖς εἰς τὸ τεῖχος ἀνὴρ εἰς τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ
16 And from that day on, half of my servants did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers stationed themselves behind all the people of Judah
καὶ ἐγένετο ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης ἥμισυ τῶν ἐκτετιναγμένων ἐποίουν τὸ ἔργον καὶ ἥμισυ αὐτῶν ἀντείχοντο καὶ λόγχαι καὶ θυρεοὶ καὶ τὰ τόξα καὶ οἱ θώρακες καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες ὀπίσω παντὸς οἴκου Ιουδα
17 who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.
τῶν οἰκοδομούντων ἐν τῷ τείχει καὶ οἱ αἴροντες ἐν τοῖς ἀρτῆρσιν ἐν ὅπλοις ἐν μιᾷ χειρὶ ἐποίει αὐτὸ τὸ ἔργον καὶ μία ἐκράτει τὴν βολίδα
18 And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side. But the trumpeter stayed beside me.
καὶ οἱ οἰκοδόμοι ἀνὴρ ῥομφαίαν αὐτοῦ ἐζωσμένος ἐπὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ καὶ ᾠκοδομοῦσαν καὶ ὁ σαλπίζων ἐν τῇ κερατίνῃ ἐχόμενα αὐτοῦ
19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “The work is great and extensive, and we are spread out far from one another along the wall.
καὶ εἶπα πρὸς τοὺς ἐντίμους καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ πρὸς τοὺς καταλοίπους τοῦ λαοῦ τὸ ἔργον πλατὺ καὶ πολύ καὶ ἡμεῖς σκορπιζόμεθα ἐπὶ τοῦ τείχους μακρὰν ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ
20 Wherever you hear the sound of the horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us!”
ἐν τόπῳ οὗ ἐὰν ἀκούσητε τὴν φωνὴν τῆς κερατίνης ἐκεῖ συναχθήσεσθε πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν πολεμήσει περὶ ἡμῶν
21 So we continued the work, while half of the men held spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
καὶ ἡμεῖς ποιοῦντες τὸ ἔργον καὶ ἥμισυ αὐτῶν κρατοῦντες τὰς λόγχας ἀπὸ ἀναβάσεως τοῦ ὄρθρου ἕως ἐξόδου τῶν ἄστρων
22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”
καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ εἶπα τῷ λαῷ αὐλίσθητε ἐν μέσῳ Ιερουσαλημ καὶ ἔστω ὑμῖν ἡ νὺξ προφυλακὴ καὶ ἡ ἡμέρα ἔργον
23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes; each carried his weapon, even to go for water.
καὶ ἤμην ἐγὼ καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς προφυλακῆς ὀπίσω μου καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐκδιδυσκόμενος ἀνὴρ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ

< Nehemiah 4 >