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.
Awo Sanubalaati olwawulira nga tuddaabiriza bbugwe, n’anyiiga nnyo era n’ajjula obuswandi. N’aduulira Abayudaaya
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]
mu maaso ga mikwano gye ne mu maaso g’eggye ly’e Samaliya n’ayogera nti, “Bano Abayudaaya abanafu bali ku ki? Balizzaawo bbugwe waabwe? Baliwaayo ssaddaaka? Balimalira mu lunaku lumu? Bayinza okulamusa amayinja okuva mu ntuumu z’ebisaaniiko, ate ebyayokebwa?”
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 Omwamoni yali amuyimiridde kumpi, n’ayogera nti, “Ebyo bye bazimba, singa ekibe kinaalinnyako kinaasuula bbugwe waabwe ow’amayinja!”
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!
Ne nsaba Katonda nti, “Otuwulire Ayi Katonda waffe kubanga tunyoomebwa. Ebivumo byabwe bizze ku mitwe gyabwe bo, era baweeyo eri okunyagibwa mu nsi eribafuula abasibe.
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!”
Oleme okubikka ku musango gwabwe newaakubadde ekibi kyabwe okukisangula mu maaso go kubanga bakusunguwazizza mu maaso g’abazimbi.”
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.
Awo ne tweyongerayo n’okuzimba bbugwe okutuuka wakati w’obugulumivu bwayo, kubanga abantu baakolanga n’obumalirivu.
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.
Naye Sanubalaati, ne Tobiya, n’Abawalabu, n’Abamoni, n’Abasudodi bwe baawulira ng’omulimu gw’okuddaabiriza bbugwe wa Yerusaalemi gugenda mu maaso, nga tutandise n’okuziba ebituli, ne banyiiga nnyo.
8 They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
Bonna ne beegatta wamu ne basala olukwe okulwanyisa Yerusaalemi n’okugitabulatabula.
9 But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
Ne tusaba eri Katonda waffe, ne tuteekawo n’abakuumi abaakuumanga emisana n’ekiro.
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.
Mu kiseera kyekimu abantu b’e Yuda ne boogera nti, “Abakozi bagenda baggwaamu amaanyi, ate nga wakyaliwo ebifunfugu bingi nnyo, tetuyinza kuddaabiriza bbugwe.”
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]!’”
N’abalabe baffe ne boogera nti, “Baliba tebanamanya newaakubadde okukiraba, tulibagwako kiyiifuyiifu, era tulibatta ne tukomya omulimu.”
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!”
Awo Abayudaaya abaali babeera okumpi nabo ne bajja ne batulabula emirundi kkumi, nga boogera nti, “Balitulumba enjuuyi zonna.”
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].
Kyennava nteeka abamu ku bantu mu njuyi eza wansi eza bbugwe awali amabanga, nga balina ebitala, n’amafumu n’emitego n’obusaale.
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!”
Bwe namala okulaba embeera bwe yali, ne ngolokoka ne ŋŋamba abakungu, n’abakulu, n’abantu abalala nti, “Temubatya. Mujjukire Mukama, omukulu era ow’entiisa, mulwanirire baganda bammwe, ne batabani bammwe, ne bawala bammwe, ne bakyala bammwe n’amaka gammwe.”
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.
Awo abalabe baffe bwe baawulira nga tutegedde olukwe lwabwe, nga Katonda alemesezza enteekateeka yaabwe, ffenna ne tuddayo ku bbugwe, buli muntu ku mulimu gwe.
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.
Okuva ku lunaku olwo, ekitundu ku basajja bange bazimbanga n’ekitundu ekirala nga bakutte amafumu, n’engabo, n’obusaale n’ebyokulwanyisa ebirala. Abakulembeze bonna ne bawagira abantu bonna aba Yuda abaali bazimba bbugwe.
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.
Abeetikkanga, baasitulanga n’omukono gumu eby’okuzimbisa n’omulala ne gukwata ekyokulwanyisa,
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.
na buli muzimbi yalina ekitala mu kiwato kye ng’akola. Naye omusajja eyafuwanga ekkondeere yambeeranga kumpi.
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.
Ne ŋŋamba abakungu n’abakulu n’abantu abalala nti, “Omulimu munene ate mugazi, ate twesudde amabanga ku bbugwe, buli muntu ali wala ne munne.
20 If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
Buli kifo gye munaawuliriranga eddoboozi ly’ekkondeere nga mujja okutudduukirira. Katonda waffe alitulwanirira.”
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].
Ne tweyongerayo n’omulimu, ekitundu ekimu ne kikwatanga amafumu obudde we bwakereranga okutuusa emmunyeenye lwe zaalabikanga.
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.”
Mu biro ebyo, ne nnyongera okutegeeza abantu nti, “Buli muntu n’oyo amubeera, basigalenga mu Yerusaalemi ekiro, bakuumenga ekiro, naye emisana babe nga bakola.”
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.
Tewaali n’omu ku ffe newaakubadde nze newaakubadde baganda bange newaakubadde abasajja bange wadde abakuumi, eyayambulangamu engoye; buli omu yalina ekyokulwanyisa kye, ne bwe yagendanga ku luzzi.
