Nehemiah 4
1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the city wall, he was very angry. He was enraged/furious. He made fun of us Jews.
Sanibalati atamva kuti tikumanganso khoma anapsa mtima nayamba kuseka ndi kunyogodola Ayuda kwambiri.
2 While his colleagues and officials of the army troops who had come from Samaria were listening, he said, “What do these feeble/pathetic Jews [think they] are doing? Do they think that if they offer enough/many sacrifices, [their gods will hear them and enable] them to finish building the wall in one day? The stones [that were in the wall previously have been weakened by] being burned in a fire. Those stones that they are pulling out of the rubbish/garbage heaps—do they think that they can make them strong again?” [RHQ]
Ndipo anayankhula pamaso pa abale ake ndi asilikali a Samariya kuti, “Kodi Ayuda ofowokawa akuchita chiyani? Kodi iwo nʼkumanganso khoma? Kodi adzaperekanso nsembe? Kodi adzatsiriza ntchitoyi tsiku limodzi? Kodi adzachita kutenga miyala yakale ija ndi mmene inapseramo?”
3 Tobiah was [standing] beside Sanballat. He said, “That stone wall [that they are building] is very weak; so if even a fox climbed up on it, the wall would fall down!”
Tobiya wa ku Amoni, amene anali naye anati, “Chimene akumangacho ngati nkhandwe itakwerapo, itha kugwetsa khoma lawolo!”
4 Then I prayed. I said, “Our God, hear us, because they are ridiculing us! Cause the words of their insults to fall back on them! Allow their enemies to come and capture them and force them to go to a foreign land!
Tsono ndinayamba kupemphera kuti, “Timvereni, Inu Mulungu wathu, mmene akutinyozera. Mulole kuti mawu awo onyoza awabwerere, ndipo atengedwe ukapolo ku dziko lachilendo.
5 They are guilty; they have [said things that] caused you to be angry while the people here who are building the wall are listening; so punish them!”
Musawakhululukire mphulupulu zawo kapena kufafaniza machimo awo pamaso panu popeza aputa ukali wanu pamaso pa anthu omanga khoma.”
6 But after some time, we finished building the wall around the whole city, up to half as high as the first wall had been. We were able to do that because we worked very hard.
Choncho ife tinamangabe khomalo kufikira lonse litafika theka la msinkhu wake, chifukwa chakuti anthu anagwira ntchitoyo ndi mtima wawo wonse.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the men from Arabia, the people from the Ammon [people-group] and from Ashdod [city] heard that the work on the wall was continuing and that we were filling in the gaps in the wall, they became very angry.
Koma pamene Sanibalati, Tobiya, Aarabu, Aamoni ndi anthu a ku Asidodi anamva kuti ntchito yokonzanso makoma a Yerusalemu ikupitirirabe ndipo kuti mipata ikutsekedwa, anapsa mtima kwambiri.
8 They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
Tsono onse anapangana za chiwembu kuti abwere ndi kudzathira nkhondo anthu a ku Yerusalemu ndi kuyambitsa mapokoso pakati pawo.
9 But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
Koma ife tinapemphera kwa Mulungu wathu ndipo tinayika alonda otiteteza kwa adaniwo usiku ndi usana.
10 Then the people of [MTY] Judah started to say, “The men who are working [on the wall] are becoming very tired. There is a lot of [heavy] rubble that we must remove; we ourselves cannot finish the work.
Pa nthawi yomweyi anthu a ku Yuda anati, “Mphamvu za anthu onyamula zinyalala zikutha ndipo pali zinyalala zambiri. Choncho ife sititha kumanga khomali.”
11 “Besides, our enemies are saying, ‘Before the Jews see us, we will swoop down on them and kill them and stop their work [on the wall]!’”
Adani athunso anati, “Iwo asanadziwe izi, kapena kutiona, tidzakhala tili pakati pawo ndipo tidzawapha ndi kuyimitsa ntchitoyo.”
12 The Jews who were living near our enemies came and told us many times, “You should leave the city and go to other places, in order that your enemies will not attack you!”
Ndipo Ayuda amene ankhala pafupi ndi adani athuwo anabwera kakhumi konse kuchokera konse kumene ankakhala kudzatiwuza kuti tibwereko ku ntchito.
13 So I put guards at the places where the wall was not very high yet and at places where there were gaps in the wall. I put guards to protect each of their family groups. I gave the guards daggers, spears, and bows [and arrows].
Choncho kumbuyo kwa khoma, cha mʼmunsi mwake komanso malo amene anali asanathe ndinayikamo anthu mʼmabanja atatenga malupanga, mikondo ndi mauta awo.
14 Then after I inspected everything, I summoned the leaders and [other] officials and [many of] the other people, and I said to them, “Do not be afraid of our enemies! Think about [what] Yahweh, who is great and glorious, [can do]! And fight to protect your friends, your families, and your homes!”
Popeza anthu ankachita mantha, tsono ndinawawuza anthu olemekezeka, akuluakulu ndiponso anthu onse kuti, “Musawaope. Kumbukirani kuti Ambuye ndi wamkulu ndipo ndi woopsa. Choncho menyerani nkhondo abale anu, ana aamuna ndi aakazi, akazi anu ndi nyumba zanu.”
15 Our enemies heard that we knew what they were planning to do and that God had (spoiled their plans/prevented them from doing what they planned). [But we were sure that God would defend us, ] so we all started to work on the wall again.
Adani athu atamva kuti ife tadziwa za chiwembu chawo, anadziwanso kuti Yehova walepheretsa zimene ankafuna kutichita. Choncho tinabwerera aliyense ku ntchito yake yomanga khoma.
16 But after that, only half of the men who were working for me worked on the wall. The others stood there on guard, holding their spears, shields, bows [and arrows], and [wearing their] coats made of metal plates. [To encourage the people] were building the wall, their leaders stood behind them.
Kuyambira tsiku limenelo mpaka mʼtsogolo mwake, theka la antchito anga linkagwira ntchito, pamene theka linalo limatenga mikondo, zishango, mauta ndi kuvala malaya azitsulo. Akuluakulu ankalimbikitsa Ayuda onse
17 Those who carried [baskets of supplies on their heads/shoulders] and those who built the wall did their work with one hand, and held a weapon with the other hand.
amene ankamanga khoma. Anthu onyamula zinyalala aja ankagwira ntchito ndi dzanja limodzi, dzanja linali atanyamula chida chankhondo.
18 All those who were building [the wall] had a dagger fastened to their side. The man who would blow the trumpet [if our enemies attacked] was standing at my side.
Mʼmisiri aliyense ankamangirira lupanga lake mʼchiwuno mwake akamagwira ntchito. Koma munthu woyimba lipenga anali pambali panga nthawi zonse.
19 Then I said to the officials, the other important men, and the other people, “This wall is very long, and we are far apart from each other along the wall.
Ndipo ine ndinati kwa anthu olemekezeka ndi anthu ena onse, “Ntchitoyi ndi yayikulu ndipo ili padera lalikulu ndipo ifeyo takhala motayanatayana kwambiri pa khoma.
20 If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
Tsono kulikonse kumene muliko, mukamva kulira kwa lipenga bwerani mudzasonkhane kumene kuli ine kuno. Mulungu wathu adzatimenyera nkhondo.”
21 So we continued to work. Half of the men continued to hold their spears all day, from when the sun rose [in the morning] until the stars appeared [at night].
Choncho enafe tinapitiriza kugwira ntchito, pamene theka lina linkanyamula mikondo kuyambira mʼbandakucha mpaka nyenyezi zitaoneka.
22 At that time, I also said to the people, “Tell every worker and his helper that they must stay inside Jerusalem at night. By doing that, they can guard us at night, and they can work [on the wall] during the daytime.”
Pa nthawi imeneyo ndinawuzanso anthuwo kuti, “Aliyense pamodzi ndi wantchito wake agone mu Yerusalemu kuti tikhale ndi otilondera usiku ndi kuti masana tizigwira ntchito.”
23 During that time, none of us ever took off our clothes (OR, we wore our clothes all the time)—I and my relatives and my workers and the guards who were with me. And we had our weapons with us, in our hands.
Choncho ine, anzanga, antchito anga, ndi anthu otiteteza amene ankanditsata panalibe ndi mmodzi yemwe anavula zovala zake pogona. Aliyense anasunga chida chake chankhondo pambali pake.
