Nehemiah 6

1 Forsothe it was doon, whanne Sanaballath hadde herd, and Tobie, and Gosem of Arabie, and oure other enemyes, that Y hadde bildide the wal, and nomore brekyng was therynne; sotheli `til to that tyme Y hadde not set leeuys of schittyng in the yatis;

Now when word was given to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arabian and to the rest of our haters, that I had done the building of the wall and that there were no more broken places in it (though even then I had not put up the doors in the doorways);

2 Sanaballath, and Tobie, and Gosem of Arabie senten to me, and seiden, Come thou, and smyte we boond of pees in calues, `in o feeld; forsothe thei thouyten for to do yuel to me.

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, Come, let us have a meeting in one of the little towns in the lowland of Ono. But their purpose was to do me evil.

3 Therfor Y sente messangeris to hem, and Y seide, Y make a greet werk, and Y mai not go doun, lest perauenture it be doon retchelesli, whanne Y come, and go doun to you.

And I sent men to them saying, I am doing a great work, so that it is not possible for me to come down: is the work to be stopped while I go away from it and come down to you?

4 Sotheli thei senten to me `bi this word bi foure tymes, and Y answeride to hem by the formere word.

And four times they sent to me in this way, and I sent them the same answer.

5 And Sanaballath sente to me the fyuethe tyme bi the formere word his child; and he hadde in his hond a pistle writun in this maner;

Then Sanballat sent his servant to me a fifth time with an open letter in his hand;

6 It is herd among hethene men, and Gosem seide, that thou and the Jewis thenken for to rebelle, and therfor ye bilden, and thou wolt `reise thee king on hem;

And in it these words were recorded: It is said among the nations, and Geshem says so, that you and the Jews are hoping to make yourselves free from the king's authority; and that this is why you are building the wall: and they say that it is your purpose to be their king;

7 for which cause also thou hast set profetis, that prechen of thee in Jerusalem, and seien, A king is in Jerusalem; the king schal here these wordis; therfor come thou now, that we take counsel togidere.

And that you have prophets preaching about you in Jerusalem, and saying, There is a king in Judah: now an account of these things will be sent to the king. So come now, and let us have a discussion.

8 And Y sente to hem, and seide, It is not doon bi these wordis whiche thou spekist; for of thin herte thou makist these thingis.

Then I sent to him, saying, No such things as you say are being done, they are only a fiction you have made up yourself.

9 Alle these men maden vs aferd, and thouyten that oure hondis schulden ceesse fro werkis, that we schulden reste; for which cause Y coumfortide more myn hond.

For they were hoping to put fear in us, saying, Their hands will become feeble and give up the work so that it may not get done. But now, O God, make my hands strong.

10 And Y entride priueli in to the hows of Samaie, sone of Dalie, the sone of Methabehel, which seide, Trete we with vs silf in the hows of God, in the myddis of the temple, and close we the yatis of the hows; for thei schulen come to sle thee, `and thei schulen come `bi niyt to sle thee.

And I went to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us have a meeting in the house of God, inside the Temple, and let the doors be shut: for they will come to put you to death; truly, in the night they will come to put you to death.

11 And Y seide, Whether ony man lijk me fledde, and who as Y schal entre in to the temple, and schal lyue?

And I said, Am I the sort of man to go in flight? what man, in my position, would go into the Temple to keep himself safe? I will not go in.

12 Y schal not entre. And Y vndurstood that God `hadde not sent hym, but `he spak as profesiynge to me; and Tobie and Sanaballath `hadden hirid hym for meede.

Then it became clear to me that God had not sent him: he had given this word of a prophet against me himself: and Tobiah and Sanballat had given him money to do so.

13 For he hadde take prijs, that Y schulde be aferd, and do, and that Y schulde do synne; and thei schulden haue yuel, which thei schulden putte to me with schenschip.

For this reason they had given him money, in order that I might be overcome by fear and do what he said and do wrong, and so they would have reason to say evil about me and put shame on me.

14 Lord, haue mynde of me, for Tobye and Sanaballath, bi siche werkis `of hem; but also of Noadie, the profete, and of othere profetis, that maden me aferd.

Keep in mind, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat and what they did, and Noadiah, the woman prophet, and the rest of the prophets whose purpose was to put fear into me.

15 Forsothe the wal was fillid in the fyue and twentithe dai of the monethe Ebul, in two and fifti daies.

So the wall was complete on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.

16 Sotheli it was doon, whanne alle oure enemyes hadden herd, that alle hethene men dredden, that weren in oure cumpas, and thei felden doun with ynne hem silf, and wiste, that this work was maad of God.

And when our haters had news of this, all the nations round about us were full of fear and were greatly shamed, for they saw that this work had been done by our God.

17 But also in tho daies many pistlis of the principal men of Jewis weren sent to Tobie, and camen fro Tobie to hem.

And further, in those days the chiefs of Judah sent a number of letters to Tobiah, and his letters came to them.

18 For many men weren in Judee, and hadden his ooth; for he hadde weddid the douyter of Sechenye, the sone of Rotel; and Johannam, his sone, hadde take the douyter of Mosallam, sone of Barachie.

For in Judah there were a number of people who had made an agreement by oath with him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah, the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken as his wife the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah.

19 But also thei preisiden hym bifor me, and telden my wordis to hym; and Tobie sente lettris, for to make me aferd.

And they said much before me of the good he had done, and gave him accounts of my words. And Tobiah sent letters with the purpose of causing me fear.