Nehemiah 4
1 Now, Sanballat, hearing that we were building the wall, was very angry, and in his wrath made sport of the Jews.
Men da Sanballat hørte, at vi byggede paa Muren, blev han vred og harmfuld; og han spottede Jøderne
2 And in the hearing of his countrymen and the army of Samaria he said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will they make themselves strong? will they make offerings? will they get the work done in a day? will they make the stones which have been burned come again out of the dust?
og sagde i Paahør af sine Brødre og Samarias Krigsfolk: »Hvad er det, disse usle Jøder har for? Vil de overlade Gud det? Vil de ofre? Kan de gøre det færdigt endnu i Dag? Kan de kalde Stenene i disse Grusdynger til Live, naar de er forbrændt?«
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Such is their building that if a fox goes up it, their stone wall will be broken down.
Og Ammoniten Tobija, der stod ved siden af ham, sagde: »Lad dem bygge, saa meget de vil; en Ræv kan rive deres Stenmur ned, blot den springer derop!«
4 Give ear, O our God, for we are looked down on: let their words of shame be turned back on themselves, and let them be given up to wasting in a land where they are prisoners:
Hør, vor Gud, hvorledes vi er blevet haanet! Lad deres Spot falde tilbage paa deres eget Hoved, og lad dem blive haanet som Fanger i et Fremmed Land!
5 Let not their wrongdoing be covered or their sin washed away from before you: for they have made you angry before the builders.
Skjul ikke deres Brøde og lad ikke deres Synd blive udslettet for dit Aasyn, thi med deres Ord krænkede de dem, der byggede!
6 So we went on building the wall; and all the wall was joined together half-way up: for the people were working hard.
Men vi byggede paa Muren, og hele Muren blev bygget færdig i halv Højde, og Folket arbejdede med god Vilje.
7 But when it came to the ears of Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, that the building of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the broken places were being made good, they were full of wrath;
Da nu Sanballat og Tobija og Araberne, Ammoniterne og Asdoditerne hørte, at det skred fremad med Istandsættelsen af Jerusalems Mure, og at Hullerne i Muren begyndte at lukkes, blev de meget vrede,
8 And they made designs, all of them together, to come and make an attack on Jerusalem, causing trouble there.
og de sammensvor sig alle om at drage hen og angribe Jerusalem og fremkalde Forvirring der.
9 But we made our prayer to God, and had men on watch against them day and night because of them.
Da bad vi til vor Gud og satte Vagt baade Dag og Nat for at værne os imod dem.
10 And Judah said, The strength of the workmen is giving way, and there is much waste material; it is impossible for us to put up the wall.
Men Jøderne sagde: Lastdragernes Kræfter svigter, og Grusdyngerne er for store; vi kan ikke bygge paa Muren!
11 And those who were against us said, Without their knowledge and without their seeing us, we will come among them and put them to death, causing the work to come to a stop.
Og vore Fjender sagde: De maa ikke mærke noget, før vi staar midt iblandt dem og hugger dem ned og saaledes faar Arbejdet til at gaa i Staa!
12 And it came about that when the Jews who were living near them came, they said to us ten times, From all directions they are coming against us.
Da nu de Jøder, der boede dem nærmest, Gang paa Gang kom og lod os vide, at de rykkede op imod os fra alle Steder, hvor de boede,
13 So in the lowest part of the space at the back of the walls, in the open places, I put the people by families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
og da Folkene kun turde stille sig op paa Steder, der laa lavere end Pladsen bag Muren, i Kælderrum, saa opstillede jeg Folket Slægt for Slægt, væbnet med Sværd, Spyd og Buer;
14 And after looking, I got up and said to the great ones and to the chiefs and to the rest of the people, Have no fear of them: keep in mind the Lord who is great and greatly to be feared, and take up arms for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your houses.
og da jeg saa det, traadte jeg frem og sagde til Stormændene og Forstanderne og det øvrige Folk: Frygt ikke for dem! Kom den store, frygtelige Gud i Hu og kæmp for eders Brødre, Sønner og Døtre, eders Hustruer og Huse!
15 And when it came to the ears of those who were against us, that we had knowledge of their designs and that God had made their purpose come to nothing, we all went back to the wall, everyone to his work
Men da vore Fjender hørte, at vi havde faaet det at vide, og at Gud gjorde deres Raad til intet, vendte vi alle tilbage til Muren, hver til sit Arbejde.
16 And from that time, half of my servants were doing their part of the work, and half kept the spears and body-covers and the bows and the metal war-dresses; and the chiefs were at the back of the men of Judah.
Men fra den Tid af arbejdede kun den ene Halvdel af mine Folk, medens den anden Halvdel stod væbnet med Spyd, Skjolde, Buer og Brynjer; og Øversterne stod bag ved alle de Jøder,
17 Those who were building the wall and those who were moving material did their part, everyone working with one hand, with his spear in the other;
der byggede paa Muren. Ogsaa Lastdragerne var væbnet; med den ene Haand arbejdede de, og med den anden holdt de Spydet;
18 Every builder was working with his sword at his side. And by my side was a man for sounding the horn.
og de, der byggede, havde under Arbejdet hver sit Sværd bundet til Lænden. Ved Siden af mig stod Hornblæseren;
19 And I said to the great ones and the chiefs and the rest of the people, The work is great and widely spaced and we are far away from one another on the wall:
og jeg sagde til de store og Forstanderne og det øvrige Folk: »Arbejdet er stort og omfattende, og vi er spredt paa Muren langt fra hverandre;
20 Wherever you may be when the horn is sounded, come here to us; our God will be fighting for us.
hvor I nu hører Hornet gjalde, skal I samles om os; vor Gud vil stride for os!
21 So we went on with the work: and half of them had spears in their hands from the dawn of the morning till the stars were seen.
Saaledes udførte vi Arbejdet, idet Halvdelen af os holdt Spydene rede fra Morgengry til Stjernernes Opgang.
22 And at the same time I said to the people, Let everyone with his servant come inside Jerusalem for the night, so that at night they may keep watch for us, and go on working by day.
Samtidig sagde jeg ogsaa til Folket: Enhver skal sammen med sin Dreng overnatte i Jerusalem, for at vi kan have dem til Vagt om Natten og til Arbejde om Dagen!«
23 So not one of us, I or my brothers or my servants or the watchmen who were with me, took off his clothing, everyone went armed to the water.
Og hverken jeg eller mine Brødre eller mine Folk eller Vagten, der fulgte mig, afførte os vore Klæder, og enhver, der blev sendt efter Vand, havde Spydet med.
