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).
A, no te rongonga o Hanaparata, o Topia, o Keheme Arapi, o era atu o o matou hoariri, kua hanga e ahau te taiepa, kahore hoki he wahi pakaru i mahue: kahore ano ia kia oti noa i ahau nga tatau te whakatu ki nga kuwaha:
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].
Na ka unga tangata mai a Hanaparata raua ko Keheme ki ahau, ka mea, Haere mai, tatou ka runanga ki tetahi o nga pa ririki i te mania i Ono. Otiia i whakaaro raua ki te mahi kino ki ahau.
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]
Na ka unga tangata ahau ki a raua hei ki atu, He nui te mahi e mahi nei ahau; e kore e ahei kia heke atu. Kia whakamutua hei aha te mahi? ka whakarerea nei hoki e ahau, ki te heke atu ahau ki a korua.
4 They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
Na e wha a raua tononga tangata mai ki ahau, ko taua tikanga ano; heoi whakahokia ana e ahau ko aua kupu ra ano.
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.
Katahi a Hanaparata ka unga mai i tana tangata ki ahau, ko te rima o nga ngarenga mai, ko taua tikanga ano, he pukapuka tuwhera i tona ringa.
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.
Ko te mea tenei tuhituhia ki reira, Kua paku te rongo ki nga tauiwi, e ki ana ano hoki a Kahamu, tenei koutou ko nga Hurai te mea nei kia whakakeke: koia i hanga ai e koe te taiepa; a e mea ana koe ko koe hei kingi mo ratou; ko ta nga korero hoki tenei.
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.”
Kua whakaturia ano e koe etahi poropiti hei karanga mou ki Hiruharama, hei ki, Kua whai kingi a Hura. Na ka whakaaturia enei kupu ki te kingi. Heoi, haere mai, kia korerorero taua.
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.”
Katahi ahau ka unga tangata ki a ia, hei ki atu, Ehara kau enei mea e korero nei koe; he mea tito noa hoki na tou ngakau ake.
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].
Ko ta ratou katoa hoki, he whakawehi i a matou; i mea ratou, Tera o ratou ringa e whakawarea ki te mahi, e kore ai e mahia. Tena, e te Atua, whakakahangia oku ringa.
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.”
Katahi ahau ka haere ki te whare o Hemaia tama a Teraia tama a Mehetapeere, he mea tutaki hoki ia ki roto; a ka mea ia, Me runanga tatou ki te whare o te Atua, ki roto ki te temepara, me tutaki hoki e tatou nga tatau o te temepara; tera hoki rat ou e haere mai ki te patu i a koe; ina, ko a te po ratou haere mai ai ki te patu i a koe.
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!”
Na ka mea ahau, Me oma ranei te tangata penei i ahau nei? ko wai te tangata o toku rite e haere ki roto ki te temepara kia ora ai? E kore ahau e haere ki roto.
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].
Na ka mahara ahau ehara ia i te mea unga mai na te Atua; heoi hei he moku tana kupu i poropiti ai: he mea utu hoki ia na Topia raua ko Hanaparata.
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.
I utua ai ia, kia wehi ai ahau, kia mahi pera a ka hara; kia whai mea ai ratou hei whakaingoa kino, hei tawai ma ratou ki ahau.
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.”
Kia mahara, e toku Atua, ki a Topia raua ko Hanaparata, ki enei mahi a raua, ki a Noaria poropiti wahine, ki era atu ano o nga poropiti i mea nei ki te whakawehi i ahau.
15 On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
Heoi kua oti te taiepa i te rua tekau ma rima o nga ra o te marama o Eruru; e rima tekau ma rua nga ra.
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].
A, i te rongonga o o matou hoariri katoa, i taua mea, ka wehi nga tauiwi katoa i tetahi taha o matou, i tetahi taha, a ko te tino hokinga iho o o ratou whakaaro; i kite hoki ratou he mea mahi tenei mahi e to matou Atua.
17 During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.
He tini ano nga pukapuka a nga rangatira o Hura i aua ra i tae ki a Topia, me a Topia hoki i tae ki a ratou.
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.
He tokomaha hoki o Hura i oati ki a ia, he hunaonga hoki ia na Hekania tama a Araha; i tango ano tana tama a Iehohanana i te tamahine a Mehurama tama a Perekia hei wahine.
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.
I korerotia ano e ratou ana mahi pai ki toku aroaro: i kawea ano e ratou aku kupu ki a ia. Heoi tukua mai ana e Topia etahi pukapuka hei whakawehi i ahau.
