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.
Y fue que cuando oyó Sanbalat que nosotros edificábamos el muro, se encolerizó y se enojó en gran manera, e hizo escarnio de los judíos.
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]
Y habló delante de sus hermanos y del ejército de Samaria, y dijo: ¿Qué hacen estos débiles judíos? ¿Les han de permitir? ¿Han de sacrificar? ¿Han de acabar en tiempo? ¿Han de resucitar de los montones del polvo las piedras que fueron quemadas?
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!”
Y estaba junto a él Tobías amonita, el cual dijo: Aun lo que ellos edifican, si subiere una zorra derribará su muro de piedra.
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!
Oye, oh Dios nuestro, que somos en menosprecio, y vuelve el baldón de ellos sobre su cabeza, y dalos en presa en la tierra de su cautiverio.
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!”
Y no cubras su iniquidad, ni su pecado sea raído delante de tu rostro; porque se airaron contra los que edificaban.
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.
Mas edificamos el muro, y toda la muralla fue junta hasta su mitad; y el pueblo tuvo ánimo para obrar.
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.
Y acaeció que oyendo Sanbalat y Tobías, y los árabes, y los amonitas, y los de Asdod, que se había puesto remedio a los muros de Jerusalén, porque ya los portillos comenzaban a cerrarse, se encolerizaron mucho;
8 They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
y conspiraron todos a una para venir a combatir a Jerusalén, y a hacerle daño.
9 But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
Entonces oramos a nuestro Dios, y por causa de ellos pusimos guarda de día y de noche sobre los que edificaban.
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.
Y dijo Judá: Las fuerzas de los acarreadores se han enflaquecido, y el escombro es mucho, y no podemos edificar el muro.
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]!’”
Y nuestros enemigos dijeron: No sepan, ni vean, hasta que entremos en medio de ellos, y los matemos, y hagamos cesar la obra.
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!”
Pero sucedió, que cuando vinieron los judíos que habitaban entre ellos, nos dieron aviso diez veces de todos los lugares de donde volvían a nosotros.
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].
Entonces puse por los bajos del lugar, detrás del muro, en las alturas de los peñascos, puse el pueblo por familias con sus espadas, con sus lanzas, y con sus arcos.
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!”
Después miré, y me levanté, y dije a los principales y a los magistrados, y al resto del pueblo: No temáis delante de ellos; acordaos del Señor grande y terrible, y pelead por vuestros hermanos, por vuestros hijos y por vuestras hijas, por vuestras mujeres y por vuestras casas.
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.
Y sucedió que cuando oyeron nuestros enemigos que lo habíamos entendido, Dios disipó el consejo de ellos, nos volvimos todos al muro, cada uno a su obra.
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.
Mas fue que desde aquel día la mitad de los jóvenes trabajaban en la obra, y la otra mitad de ellos tenía lanzas y escudos, y arcos, y corazas; y los príncipes estaban tras toda la casa de Judá.
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.
Los que edificaban en el muro, y los que llevaban cargas y los que cargaban, con una mano trabajaban en la obra, y en la otra tenían la espada.
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.
Porque los que edificaban, cada uno tenía su espada ceñida a sus lomos, y así edificaban y el que tocaba la trompeta estaba junto a mí.
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.
Y dije a los principales, y a los magistrados y al resto del pueblo: La obra es grande y larga, y nosotros estamos apartados en el muro, lejos los unos de los otros.
20 If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
En el lugar donde oyereis la voz de la trompeta, reuníos allí a nosotros; nuestro Dios peleará por nosotros.
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].
Y nosotros trabajábamos en la obra; y la mitad de ellos tenían lanzas desde la subida del alba hasta que salían las estrellas.
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.”
También dije entonces al pueblo: Cada uno con su criado se quede dentro de Jerusalén, y hágannos de noche centinela, y de día a la obra.
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.
Y ni yo, ni mis hermanos, ni mis siervos, ni la gente de guardia que me seguía, desnudamos nuestro vestido; cada uno se desnudaba solamente para lavarse.
