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.
参巴拉听见我们修造城墙就发怒，大大恼恨，嗤笑犹大人，
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]
对他弟兄和撒马利亚的军兵说：“这些软弱的犹大人做什么呢？要保护自己吗？要献祭吗？要一日成功吗？要从土堆里拿出火烧的石头再立墙吗？”
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!”
亚扪人多比雅站在旁边，说：“他们所修造的石墙，就是狐狸上去也必跐倒。”
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!
我们的 神啊，求你垂听，因为我们被藐视。求你使他们的毁谤归于他们的头上，使他们在掳到之地作为掠物。
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!”
不要遮掩他们的罪孽，不要使他们的罪恶从你面前涂抹，因为他们在修造的人眼前惹动你的怒气。
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.
这样，我们修造城墙，城墙就都连络，高至一半，因为百姓专心做工。
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.
参巴拉、多比雅、阿拉伯人、亚扪人、亚实突人听见修造耶路撒冷城墙，着手进行堵塞破裂的地方，就甚发怒。
8 They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
大家同谋要来攻击耶路撒冷，使城内扰乱。
9 But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
然而，我们祷告我们的 神，又因他们的缘故，就派人看守，昼夜防备。
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.
犹大人说：“灰土尚多，扛抬的人力气已经衰败，所以我们不能建造城墙。”
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]!’”
我们的敌人且说：“趁他们不知不见，我们进入他们中间，杀他们，使工作止住。”
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!”
那靠近敌人居住的犹大人十次从各处来见我们，说：“你们必要回到我们那里。”
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].
所以我使百姓各按宗族拿刀、拿枪、拿弓站在城墙后边低洼的空处。
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!”
我察看了，就起来对贵胄、官长，和其余的人说：“不要怕他们！当记念主是大而可畏的。你们要为弟兄、儿女、妻子、家产争战。”
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.
仇敌听见我们知道他们的心意，见 神也破坏他们的计谋，就不来了。我们都回到城墙那里，各做各的工。
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.
从那日起，我的仆人一半做工，一半拿枪、拿盾牌、拿弓、穿铠甲，官长都站在犹大众人的后边。
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.
修造城墙的，扛抬材料的，都一手做工一手拿兵器。
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.
修造的人都腰间佩刀修造，吹角的人在我旁边。
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.
我对贵胄、官长，和其余的人说：“这工程浩大，我们在城墙上相离甚远；
20 If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
你们听见角声在哪里，就聚集到我们那里去。我们的 神必为我们争战。”
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].
于是，我们做工，一半拿兵器，从天亮直到星宿出现的时候。
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.”
那时，我又对百姓说：“各人和他的仆人当在耶路撒冷住宿，好在夜间保守我们，白昼做工。”
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.
这样，我和弟兄仆人，并跟从我的护兵都不脱衣服，出去打水也带兵器。
