Nehemiah 6
1 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—
καὶ ἐγένετο καθὼς ἠκούσθη τῷ Σαναβαλλατ καὶ Τωβια καὶ τῷ Γησαμ τῷ Αραβι καὶ τοῖς καταλοίποις τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἡμῶν ὅτι ᾠκοδόμησα τὸ τεῖχος καὶ οὐ κατελείφθη ἐν αὐτοῖς πνοή ἕως τοῦ καιροῦ ἐκείνου θύρας οὐκ ἐπέστησα ἐν ταῖς πύλαις
2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.
καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Σαναβαλλατ καὶ Γησαμ πρός με λέγων δεῦρο καὶ συναχθῶμεν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐν ταῖς κώμαις ἐν πεδίῳ Ωνω καὶ αὐτοὶ λογιζόμενοι ποιῆσαί μοι πονηρίαν
3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to go down to you?”
καὶ ἀπέστειλα ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ἀγγέλους λέγων ἔργον μέγα ἐγὼ ποιῶ καὶ οὐ δυνήσομαι καταβῆναι μήποτε καταπαύσῃ τὸ ἔργον ὡς ἂν τελειώσω αὐτό καταβήσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς
4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.
καὶ ἀπέστειλαν πρός με ὡς τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο καὶ ἀπέστειλα αὐτοῖς κατὰ ταῦτα
5 The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter
καὶ ἀπέστειλεν πρός με Σαναβαλλατ τὸν παῖδα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιστολὴν ἀνεῳγμένην ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ
6 that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,
καὶ ἦν γεγραμμένον ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἠκούσθη ὅτι σὺ καὶ οἱ Ιουδαῖοι λογίζεσθε ἀποστατῆσαι διὰ τοῦτο σὺ οἰκοδομεῖς τὸ τεῖχος καὶ σὺ γίνῃ αὐτοῖς εἰς βασιλέα
7 and you have even appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: ‘There is a king in Judah.’ Soon these rumors will reach the ears of the king. So come, let us confer together.”
καὶ πρὸς τούτοις προφήτας ἔστησας σεαυτῷ ἵνα καθίσῃς ἐν Ιερουσαλημ εἰς βασιλέα ἐν Ιουδα καὶ νῦν ἀπαγγελήσονται τῷ βασιλεῖ οἱ λόγοι οὗτοι καὶ νῦν δεῦρο βουλευσώμεθα ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό
8 Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”
καὶ ἀπέστειλα πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγων οὐκ ἐγενήθη ὡς οἱ λόγοι οὗτοι οὓς σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἀπὸ καρδίας σου σὺ ψεύδῃ αὐτούς
9 For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen my hands.
ὅτι πάντες φοβερίζουσιν ἡμᾶς λέγοντες ἐκλυθήσονται αἱ χεῖρες αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔργου τούτου καὶ οὐ ποιηθήσεται καὶ νῦν ἐκραταίωσα τὰς χεῖράς μου
10 Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said: “Let us meet at the house of God inside the temple. Let us shut the temple doors because they are coming to kill you— by night they are coming to kill you!”
καὶ ἐγὼ εἰσῆλθον εἰς οἶκον Σεμεϊ υἱοῦ Δαλαια υἱοῦ Μεηταβηλ καὶ αὐτὸς συνεχόμενος καὶ εἶπεν συναχθῶμεν εἰς οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ κλείσωμεν τὰς θύρας αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἔρχονται νυκτὸς φονεῦσαί σε
11 But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Should one like me go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go!”
καὶ εἶπα τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἀνήρ ὃς εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὸν οἶκον καὶ ζήσεται
12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
καὶ ἐπέγνων καὶ ἰδοὺ ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτόν ὅτι ἡ προφητεία λόγος κατ’ ἐμοῦ καὶ Τωβιας καὶ Σαναβαλλατ ἐμισθώσαντο
13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me.
ἐπ’ ἐμὲ ὄχλον ὅπως φοβηθῶ καὶ ποιήσω οὕτως καὶ ἁμάρτω καὶ γένωμαι αὐτοῖς εἰς ὄνομα πονηρόν ὅπως ὀνειδίσωσίν με
14 O my God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who tried to intimidate me.
μνήσθητι ὁ θεός τῷ Τωβια καὶ τῷ Σαναβαλλατ ὡς τὰ ποιήματα αὐτοῦ ταῦτα καὶ τῷ Νωαδια τῷ προφήτῃ καὶ τοῖς καταλοίποις τῶν προφητῶν οἳ ἦσαν φοβερίζοντές με
15 So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.
καὶ ἐτελέσθη τὸ τεῖχος πέμπτῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ Ελουλ εἰς πεντήκοντα καὶ δύο ἡμέρας
16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and disheartened, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.
καὶ ἐγένετο ἡνίκα ἤκουσαν πάντες οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἡμῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τὰ κύκλῳ ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπέπεσεν φόβος σφόδρα ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτῶν καὶ ἔγνωσαν ὅτι παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐγενήθη τελειωθῆναι τὸ ἔργον τοῦτο
17 Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came back to them.
καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἀπὸ πολλῶν ἐντίμων Ιουδα ἐπιστολαὶ ἐπορεύοντο πρὸς Τωβιαν καὶ αἱ Τωβια ἤρχοντο πρὸς αὐτούς
18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.
ὅτι πολλοὶ ἐν Ιουδα ἔνορκοι ἦσαν αὐτῷ ὅτι γαμβρὸς ἦν τοῦ Σεχενια υἱοῦ Ηραε καὶ Ιωαναν υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἔλαβεν τὴν θυγατέρα Μεσουλαμ υἱοῦ Βαραχια εἰς γυναῖκα
19 Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
καὶ τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ ἦσαν λέγοντες πρός με καὶ λόγους μου ἦσαν ἐκφέροντες αὐτῷ καὶ ἐπιστολὰς ἀπέστειλεν Τωβιας φοβερίσαι με
