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.
Forsothe it was doon, whanne Sanaballath hadde herd, that we bildiden the wal, he was ful wrooth, and he was stirid greetli, and scornede the Jewis.
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]
And he seide bifor hise britheren, and the multitude of Samaritans, What doen the feble Jewis? Whether hethene men schulen suffre hem? Whether thei schulen fille, and make sacrifice in o dai? Whether thei moun bilde stonys of the heepis of the dust, that ben brent?
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!”
But also Tobie Amanytes, his neiybore, seide, Bilde thei; if a fox stieth, he schal `skippe ouer the stony wal `of hem.
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!
And Neemye seide, Oure God, here thou, for we ben maad dispising; turne thou the schenschip on her heed, and yyue thou hem in to dispisyng in the lond of caytifte;
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!”
hile thou not the wickidnesse of hem, and her synnes be not doon awei bifor thi face; for thei scorneden bilderis.
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.
Therfor we bildiden the wal, and ioyneden togidere al `til to the half part, and the herte of the puple was exitid to worche.
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.
Forsothe it was doon, whanne Sanaballat `hadde herd, and Tobie, and Arabiens, and Amanytys, and men of Azotus hadden herd, that the brekyng of the wal of Jerusalem was stoppid, and that the crasyngis hadden bigunne to be closid togidere, thei weren ful wrothe.
8 They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
And alle weren gaderid togidere to come and fiyte ayens Jerusalem, and to caste tresouns.
9 But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
And we preieden oure Lord God, and we settiden keperis on the wal bi dai and niyt ayens hem.
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.
Forsothe Juda seide, The strengthe of the berere is maad feble, and the erthe is ful myche, and we moun not bilde the wal.
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]!’”
And oure enemyes seiden, Wite thei not, and knowe thei not, til we comen in to the myddil of hem, and sleen hem, and maken the werk to ceesse.
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!”
Forsothe it was doon, whanne Jewis came, that dwelliden bisidis hem, and seiden to vs `bi ten tymes, fro alle places fro whiche thei camen to vs,
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].
Y ordeynede the puple in ordre, with her swerdis, and speris, and bouwis, in a place bihynde the wal bi cumpas.
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!”
Y bihelde, and roos, and seide to the principal men, and magistratis, and to `the tother part of the comyn puple, Nyle ye drede of her face; haue ye mynde of the greet Lord, and ferdful, and fiyte ye for youre britheren, and youre sones, and youre douytris, for youre wyues, and housis.
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.
Forsothe it was doon, whanne oure enemyes hadden herd that it was teld to vs, God distriede her counsel; and alle we turneden ayen to the wallis, ech man to his werk.
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.
And it was doon fro that dai, the half part of yonge men made werk, and the half part was redi to batel; `and speris, and scheldis, and bouwis, and harburiouns, and princes aftir hem, in al the hows of men of Juda,
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.
bildynge in the wal, and berynge birthuns, and puttynge on; with her oon hond thei maden werk, and with the tother thei helden swerd.
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.
For ech of the bilderis was gird with the swerd on the reynes; and thei bildiden, and sowneden with clariouns bisidis me.
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.
And Y seide to the principal men, and magistratis, and to the tothir part of the comyn puple, The werk is greet and brood, and we ben departid fer in the wal, oon from anothir;
20 If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
in what euer place ye heren the sown of the trumpe, renne ye togidere thidur to vs; for oure God schal fiyte for vs.
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].
And we `vs silf schal make the werk, and the half part of vs holde speris, fro `the stiyng of the moreutid til that sterris go out.
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.”
And `in that tyme Y seide to the puple, Ech man with his child dwelle in the myddil of Jerusalem, and whilis be to vs `bi nyyt and dai to worche.
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.
But Y, and my britheren, and my keperis, and children, that weren after me, diden not of oure clothis; ech man was maad nakid oneli to waischyng.
