Nehemiah 6
1 Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and our other enemies heard [a report] that we had finished rebuilding the wall, and that now there were no more (gaps/places where the wall was not finished) (although we had not yet put the doors in the gates).
Sanbalat, Tobia, Gesyem orang Arab, dan musuh-musuh kami yang lain mendengar bahwa saya sudah membangun kembali benteng Yerusalem dan tidak ada lagi bagian yang runtuh. (Itu benar, tetapi waktu itu pintu-pintu gerbang belum dipasang.)
2 So Sanballat and Geshem sent [a message] to me, in which they said “Come and talk with us at a place in Ono Plain [north of Jerusalem].” But [I knew that] really they wanted to harm me [if I went there].
Lalu Sanbalat dan Gesyem mengirim pesan kepada saya, isinya, “Marilah kita bertemu di desa Kefirim di dataran Ono.” Namun, saya tahu bahwa mereka sudah berencana untuk mencelakai saya.
3 So I sent messengers to them, to tell them, “I am doing an important work, and I cannot go down [there]. (Why should I stop doing this work just to go down to [talk with] you?/I do not want to stop doing this work just to go down to [talk with] you.)” [RHQ]
Maka saya menyuruh para pembawa pesan itu pulang dengan jawaban, “Saya sedang melaksanakan pekerjaan besar yang tidak bisa ditinggal. Tidak mungkin saya menghentikan pekerjaan ini untuk menemui kalian.”
4 They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
Empat kali mereka mengirim pesan yang sama, dan saya selalu memberi jawaban yang sama pula.
5 Then Sanballat sent one of his servants to me, bringing a fifth message. This one was written, but it was not sealed. [He did that in order that others would read the message that the servant was carrying] in his hand.
Pada kali kelima, Sanbalat mengirim pesan melalui pegawainya kepada saya. Pesan itu berbentuk surat terbuka
6 This is what was written in the message: “Some people in the nearby countries have heard a report that you and the other Jews are rebuilding the wall [in order to be able to resist attacks], because you are planning to revolt [against the king of Babylon]. And the report also says that you are planning to become the king [of the Israelis]. Geshem says that what they have reported is true.
yang isinya, “Ada kabar yang tersebar di antara semua bangsa di sekitar Yehuda, dan menurut Gesyem berita itu benar. Mereka mengatakan bahwa alasan engkau dan bangsa Yahudi membangun kembali benteng Yerusalem adalah karena kalian hendak memberontak terhadap kerajaan Persia. Menurut laporan-laporan yang kami terima, engkau juga akan menjadi raja mereka.
7 [People are also saying that] you have appointed some prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem that you, [Nehemiah, ] are now the king in Judea. King [Artaxerxes] will certainly hear these reports, [and then you will be in big trouble]. So I suggest that we should meet together to talk about this matter.”
Bahkan engkau sudah menunjuk beberapa nabi untuk memberi pengumuman di Yerusalem, ‘Yehuda memiliki seorang raja, yaitu Nehemia!’ Berita ini pasti akan sampai kepada Raja Artasasta. Jadi, saya mengusulkan agar kita bertemu untuk membicarakan persoalan ini dan mencari jalan keluar supaya engkau selamat dari hukuman.”
8 [When I read that message, ] I sent [the messenger] back to Sanballat to say, “None of what you are saying is true. You have (made this up/concocted this) in your own head/mind.”
Kemudian saya mengirim jawaban, “Kata-katamu itu tidak benar. Semua itu hanyalah karanganmu sendiri.”
9 [I said that because I knew that] they were trying to cause us to be afraid, with the result that we would stop working [on the wall]. So I actually became more determined (OR, I prayed to God to help me) [to continue the work].
Musuh-musuh kami berusaha menakut-nakuti karena mengira bahwa kami akan berkecil hati sehingga tidak dapat menyelesaikan pembangunan benteng kota. Tetapi saya mengandalkan Allah dan berdoa, “Ya Allah, berikanlah keberanian kepadaku!”
10 [One day] I went to talk with Shemaiah, son of Delaiah and grandson of Mehetabel. I went to talk with him in his house, because he was not able (OR, allowed) to leave his house. He said to me, “You and I must enter the very sacred place in the temple and lock the doors, because people are going to come to kill you at night.”
Suatu hari, tidak lama setelah peristiwa itu, saya mengunjungi Semaya, anak Delaya dan cucu Mehetabel, yang mengaku dirinya sebagai nabi. Saya diminta mengunjungi dia karena dia berkata bahwa dia tidak bisa berjalan untuk datang kepada saya. Tetapi saat bertemu, dia berkata, “Mari kita bersembunyi di dalam rumah TUHAN dan mengunci semua pintunya, karena malam ini musuh-musuhmu akan datang untuk membunuhmu.” Tetapi jawab saya, “Sebagai pemimpin, tidak pantas saya kabur ketika ada bahaya. Itu tindakan pengecut. Lagipula, saya bukan imam sehingga dilarang masuk ke rumah TUHAN, apalagi hanya untuk menyelamatkan diri. Tidak! Saya tidak akan melakukan itu!” Saat itu saya menyadari bahwa Allah tidak mengutus Semaya untuk bernubuat demikian. Dia mengatakan itu karena dibayar oleh Tobia dan Sanbalat.
11 I replied, “I (am not that kind of person/do not do things like that) [RHQ]! I would not run and hide in the temple to save my life! No, I will not do that!”
12 When I thought [about what he had said], I realized that God had not told Shemaiah to say that to me. I realized that Tobiah and Sanballat had bribed him [to say that to me].
13 They had bribed him to cause me to be afraid. They wanted me to [disobey God’s commands and] sin [by hiding in the temple]. If I did that, they would be able to ruin my reputation [MTY] and discredit me.
Mereka berpikir ancaman itu dapat membuat saya takut sehingga saya berbuat dosa dengan mengikuti sarannya. Dengan demikian mereka dapat menyalahkan saya dan mencemarkan nama saya.
14 [So I prayed, ] “My God, do not forget what Tobiah and Sanballat have done. Punish them. And do not forget that the female prophet Noadiah and some of the other prophets have also tried to cause me to be afraid.”
Saya berdoa, “Ya Allahku, ingatlah semua hal jahat yang sudah dilakukan Tobia dan Sanbalat, juga Noadya nabi perempuan itu, serta nabi-nabi lain yang berusaha terus menakut-nakuti aku.”
15 On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
Setelah lima puluh dua hari bekerja, pembangunan benteng kota Yerusalem diselesaikan pada tanggal dua puluh lima bulan Elul.
16 When our enemies in the nearby countries heard about that, they realized that they had been humiliated, because everyone knew that it was because God helped us that we had been able to do this work [and that they had not been able to force us to quit].
Ketika semua musuh kami mendengar berita itu, dan orang-orang bangsa lain di sekitar Yehuda melihat bahwa kami sudah menyelesaikan benteng kota, mereka menjadi takut dan malu. Mereka menyadari bahwa pekerjaan yang kami lakukan sudah berhasil karena pertolongan Allah kami.
17 During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.
Selama ini, para bangsawan Yehuda dan Tobia saling berkirim surat
18 Many people in Judea were closely associated with Tobiah, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah. Furthermore, Tobiah’s son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berekiah.
karena banyak orang Yehuda sudah berjanji setia kepada Tobia, sebab dia adalah menantu Sekanya anak Ara. Dan anak Tobia, yaitu Yohanan, sudah menikah dengan anak perempuan Mesulam anak Berekya.
19 People often talked in my presence about all the good things that Tobiah had done, and then they would tell him everything that I said. So Tobiah sent many letters to me to try to cause me to become afraid.
Para bangsawan itu pun sering memuji-muji perbuatan baik Tobia di hadapan saya, juga melaporkan kata-kata saya kepada Tobia. Itulah sebabnya Tobia terus saja mengirim surat untuk menakut-nakuti saya.
