Nehemiah 6

1 and to be like/as as which to hear: hear to/for Sanballat and Tobiah and to/for Geshem [the] Arabian and to/for remainder enemy our for to build [obj] [the] wall and not to remain in/on/with her breach also till [the] time [the] he/she/it door not to stand: stand in/on/with gate

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 and to send: depart Sanballat and Geshem to(wards) me to/for to say to go: come! [emph?] and to appoint together in/on/with Hakkephirim in/on/with valley Ono and they(masc.) to devise: devise to/for to make: do to/for me distress: harm

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 and to send: depart [emph?] upon them messenger to/for to say work great: large I to make: do and not be able to/for to go down to/for what? to cease [the] work like/as as which to slacken her and to go down to(wards) you

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 and to send: depart to(wards) me like/as Chronicles [the] this four beat and to return: reply [obj] them like/as Chronicles [the] this

They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.

5 and to send: depart to(wards) me Sanballat like/as Chronicles [the] this beat fifth [obj] youth his and letter to open in/on/with hand his

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 to write in/on/with her in/on/with nation to hear: proclaim and Geshem to say you(m. s.) and [the] Jew to devise: devise to/for to rebel upon so you(m. s.) to build [the] wall and you(m. s.) to be to/for them to/for king like/as word [the] these

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 and also prophet to stand: stand to/for to call: call out upon you in/on/with Jerusalem to/for to say king in/on/with Judah and now to hear: hear to/for king like/as word [the] these and now to go: come! [emph?] and to advise together

[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 and to send: depart [emph?] to(wards) him to/for to say not to be like/as word: thing [the] these which you(m. s.) to say for from heart your you(m. s.) to devise them

[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 for all their to fear [obj] us to/for to say to slacken hand their from [the] work and not to make: do and now to strengthen: strengthen [obj] hand my

[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 and I to come (in): come house: home Shemaiah son: child Delaiah son: child Mehetabel and he/she/it to restrain and to say to appoint to(wards) house: temple [the] God to(wards) midst [the] temple and to shut door [the] temple for to come (in): come to/for to kill you and night to come (in): come to/for to kill you

[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 and to say [emph?] man like me to flee and who? like me which to come (in): come to(wards) [the] temple and to live not to come (in): come

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 and to recognize [emph?] and behold not God to send: depart him for [the] prophecy to speak: promise upon me and Tobiah and Sanballat to hire him

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 because to hire he/she/it because to fear and to make: do so and to sin and to be to/for them to/for name bad: harmful because to taunt me

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 to remember [emph?] God my to/for Tobiah and to/for Sanballat like/as deed his these and also to/for Noadiah [the] prophetess and to/for remainder [the] prophet which to be to fear [obj] me

[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 and to complete [the] wall in/on/with twenty and five to/for Elul to/for fifty and two day

On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.

16 and to be like/as as which to hear: hear all enemy our and to fear all [the] nation which around us and to fall: fall much in/on/with eye: appearance their and to know for from with God our to make: do [the] work [the] this

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 also in/on/with day [the] they(masc.) to multiply noble Judah letter their to go: send upon Tobiah and which to/for Tobiah to come (in): come to(wards) them

During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.

18 for many in/on/with Judah master: owning oath to/for him for son-in-law he/she/it to/for Shecaniah son: child Arah and Jehohanan son: child his to take: marry [obj] daughter Meshullam son: child Berechiah

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 also welfare his to be to say to/for face: before my and word my to be to come out: speak to/for him letter to send: depart Tobiah to/for to fear me

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.