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.

Ka naʻe hoko ʻo pehē, ʻi he ongoʻi ʻe Sanipalate ʻoku mau langaʻi ʻae ʻā maka, naʻe ʻita lahi ia, pea ne fai lili lahi, ʻo ne manukiʻi ʻae kakai Siu.

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]

Pea naʻe lea ia ʻi he ʻao ʻo hono kāinga mo e tau ʻo Samēlia, ʻo ne pehē, “Ko e hā ia ʻoku fai ʻe he kakai Siu vaivai ni? He te nau fakamālohiʻi ʻakinautolu ke tau? Te nau fai ha feilaulau? He te nau fakaʻosi [ia ]ʻi he ʻaho pe taha? Te nau fakaakeake ʻae ngaahi maka mei he ngaahi fokotuʻunga veve ʻaia kuo tutu?”

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!”

Pea naʻe ofi kiate ia ʻa Topaia ko e tangata ʻAmoni, ʻo ne lea ʻo pehē, “ʻIo, ko ia ʻoku nau langa, ka ne ʻalu hake ai ha fokisi, te ne holoki hifo ʻenau ʻā maka.”

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!

“ʻE homau ʻOtua ke ke fanongo: he kuo lumaʻi ʻakimautolu: pea ke fakatafoki honau manuki ki he ʻulu ʻonautolu, pea ke tuku ʻakinautolu ko e meʻa vete ʻi he fonua ʻoe fakapōpula:

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!”

Pea ʻoua naʻa ke ʻufiʻufi ʻenau ngaahi hia, pea ʻoua naʻa fakamolemole ʻenau ngaahi angahala mei ho ʻao: he kuo nau fakatupu ʻa hoʻo houhau ʻi he ʻao ʻoe kau langa fale.”

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.

Naʻe pehē ʻemau langa ʻae ʻā maka pea naʻe fakahokohoko ke fakataha ʻae ʻā maka ʻo aʻu ki hono vaeuaʻanga: he naʻe ʻi he kakai ʻae loto fie ngāue.

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.

Ka naʻe hoko ʻo pehē, ʻi he fanongo ʻe Topaia, mo e kau ʻAlepea, mo e kau ʻAmoni, mo e kau ʻAsitoti, ʻoku fakamaʻopoʻopo ʻae ngaahi ʻā maka ʻo Selūsalema, pea kuo kamata tāpuni hono ngaahi ava, naʻa nau ʻita lahi,

8 They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.

‌ʻO nau alea fakataha kotoa pē ke nau haʻu ke tauʻi ʻa Selūsalema, koeʻuhi ke taʻofi hono fai.

9 But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.

Ka naʻa mau fai ʻemau lotu ki homau ʻOtua, pea naʻe fakanofo ʻae kau leʻo ke vakai ʻakinautolu ʻi he ʻaho mo e pō, ko e meʻa ʻiate kinautolu.

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.

Pea naʻe pehē ʻe Siuta, “ʻOku fakaʻaʻau ke siʻi ʻae mālohi ʻoe kau haʻamo, pea ʻoku lahi ʻae veve: ko ia ʻoku ʻikai te mau faʻa langa ʻae ʻā maka.”

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]!’”

Pea naʻe pehē ʻe homau ngaahi fili, “ʻOua naʻa nau ʻilo pe mamata, kaeʻoua ke mau hoko atu ki honau lotolotonga, pea tāmateʻi ʻakinautolu, pea taʻofi ʻae ngāue.”

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!”

Pea naʻe hoko ʻo pehē, ʻi he haʻu ʻae kau Siu naʻe nofo ofi kiate kinautolu, naʻa nau fakahā mai ʻo liunga hongofulu ʻenau [te u tau ]mei he ngaahi potu kehekehe.

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].

Ko ia naʻaku fakanofo ai ʻae kakai ʻo tatau mo honau ngaahi fale, ʻi he ngaahi potu ʻi lalo ʻituʻa ʻoe ʻā maka, pea ʻi he ngaahi potu māʻolunga, mo ʻenau ngaahi heletā, mo honau ngaahi tao, mo honau ngaahi kaufana.

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!”

Pea u vakai, mo tuʻu hake, pea u pehē ki he houʻeiki, pea ki he kau pule, pea ki hono toe ʻoe kakai, “ʻOua naʻa mou manavahē kiate kinautolu: manatu kia Sihova, ʻaia ʻoku lahi, mo fakamanavahē, pea mou tau koeʻuhi ko homou ngaahi kāinga, ko homou ngaahi foha, mo homou ngaahi ʻofefine, mo homou ngaahi uaifi, mo homou ngaahi fale.”

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.

Pea naʻe hoko ʻo pehē, ʻi he fanongo ʻe homau ngaahi fili kuo mau ongoʻi ia ʻo ʻilo, pea kuo fakataʻeaongaʻi ʻe he ʻOtua ʻenau fakakaukau, naʻa mau toe liu mai kotoa pē ki he ʻā maka, ʻo taki taha ki heʻene ngāue.

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.

Pea naʻe hoko ʻo pehē talu mei he kuonga ko ia ʻo fai ai pe, naʻe fai ʻe hono vaeuaʻanga ʻo ʻeku kau tamaioʻeiki ʻae ngāue, pea puke ʻe he vaeuaʻanga ʻe taha ʻae ngaahi tao, mo e ngaahi pā, mo e kaufana, mo e kofutau: pea naʻe ʻi he tuʻa fale kotoa pē ʻo Siuta ʻae kau pule.

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.

Ko kinautolu naʻe langa ʻi he ʻā maka, mo kinautolu naʻe haʻamo kavenga, mo kinautolu naʻe fakaheka, naʻa nau fai ʻo ngāueʻaki ʻae nima ʻe taha ʻi he ngāue, pea puke mahafutau ʻaki ʻae nima ʻe taha.

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.

He ko e kau langa, naʻa nau langa pe ʻo taki taha maʻu hono heletā kuo nonoʻo ʻi hono vakavaka. Pea ko ia naʻe ifi ʻae meʻalea naʻe ofi ia kiate au.

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.

Pea ne u pehē ki he ngaahi houʻeiki, pea ki he kau pule, pea ki hono toe ʻoe kakai, “ʻOku lahi ʻae ngāue pea lau lahi, pea kuo tau mavahevahe ʻi he ʻā maka, pea vāmamaʻo ʻae taha mei he taha.

20 If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”

‌ʻIlonga ʻae potu ko ia te mou ongoʻi ai ʻae ifi ʻoe meʻalea, mou kātoa ki ai leva kiate kimautolu: ʻe tau ʻe hotau ʻOtua maʻatautolu.”

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].

Ko ia naʻa mau ngāue pe ʻi he ngāue pea puke tao ʻe honau vaeuaʻanga ʻanautolu mei he maʻa hake ʻoe pongipongi ʻo aʻu ki heʻene hāmai ʻae ngaahi fetuʻu.

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.”

Pea ne u lea foki ʻi he kuonga ko ia ki he kakai, [ʻo pehē], Tuku ke taki taha mohe mo ʻene tamaioʻeiki ʻi Selūsalema, koeʻuhi ke nau ʻiate kitautolu ko e kau leʻo ʻi he pō, pea ngāue ʻi he ʻaho.

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.

Ko ia naʻe ʻikai [vete ʻe ]au, pe ko hoku kāinga, pe ko ʻeku kau tamaioʻeiki, pe ko e kau tangata leʻo ʻaia naʻe muimui ʻiate au, naʻe ʻikai ha tokotaha naʻe vete hono kofu, ka koeʻuhi pe ke fō.