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.
桑巴拉特一聽說我們重修城垣，就大發忿怒，十分生氣，譏諷猶太人，
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]
向他們的同僚即撒瑪黎雅的軍隊說：「這些可憐的猶太人想作什麼﹖他們想要修築城垣嗎﹖想要獻祭嗎﹖想要在一天內完成嗎﹖想從那堆灰土中，在立起那些燒過的石頭來嗎﹖」
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!”
阿孟託人托彼雅也在旁說到：「讓他們修罷! 就是上去一隻野狗，也能推翻他們修了石牆。」
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!
我們的天主，請聽! 我們是怎樣受侮辱! 請把這辱罵歸到他們的頭上，使他們在流亡之地受迫害。
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!”
不要遮掩他們的罪行，他們的罪孽也不應從你面前抹去，因為他們實在侮辱了修建的人。
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.
我們仍繼續修建城牆，把整個城牆都聯結起來，高底已到一半，因為民眾都有心火工作。
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.
當桑巴拉特和托彼雅，以及阿剌伯人、阿孟人和阿市多得人，聽說耶路撒冷城垣正在進行修建中，缺口已開始修補，就大發忿怒，
8 They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
都聯合起來，圖謀來攻打耶路撒冷，擾亂我們。
9 But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
我們一面祈求我們的天主，一面派了衛隊，日夜防守。
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.
有一個猶太人說︰「運夫的力量已耗盡，積土又太多，我們不能再修建城牆了! 」
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]!’”
我們的仇敵已議決說：「不讓他們知道，不讓他們看出，我們直衝入他們中間，將他們殺掉，停止那工程。」
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!”
那時，有些靠近他們居住的猶太人，十次前來通知我們說︰「他們由所住的各方上來，攻打我們，
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].
已在城牆下低處的田野中安了營。」我就按照家族分派了人，帶上刀槍和弓。
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!”
我巡視之後，就起來對權貴、長官和其餘的人民說︰「對他們，你們不可畏縮! 要記住吾主是偉大而可畏的：應為你們的兄弟、兒女、妻子、家庭而作戰。」
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.
我們的敵人一聽說我們得了情報，同時天主也破壞了他們的陰謀，他們遂都撤退；我們也都回到城牆那裏，各返自己的工作崗位。
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.
從那天起，我的僕人一半做工，一半佩帶著刀、矛盾、弓和鎧甲，立在全猶大家後邊，
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.
即在城牆作工的人後邊。那些搬運的人，也都武裝起來︰一手作工，一手拿著武器；
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.
修牆的工人，每人腰間都配著刀工作。吹號筒的站在我身旁。
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.
我向權貴、長官和其餘的人民說︰「這工程範圍很大，我們在城牆上彼此分離甚遠，
20 If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
所以你們無論在什麼地方，一聽到號聲，就立時聚集在我們身旁；我們的天主必為我們戰爭。」
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].
我們便這樣繼續工作，由旭日初昇，直到星辰出現。
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.”
同時我又吩咐民眾說：「每人和他的僕人，應在耶路撒冷過夜。如此在夜間可為我們守衛，白天可以工作。」
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.
至於我和我的兄弟，以及我的僕人和跟隨我、護衛我的人，沒有一人脫過衣服，各人手中常拿著武器。
