Nehemia 4
1 Rĩrĩa Sanibalati aaiguire atĩ nĩtwakaga rũthingo rĩngĩ, akĩrakara na agĩthirĩka mũno. Agĩthekerera Ayahudi,
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the city wall, he was very angry. He was enraged/furious. He made fun of us Jews.
2 na arĩ mbere ya athiritũ ake na mbũtũ cia ita cia Samaria, akiuga atĩrĩ, “Ayahudi aya ahinyaru-rĩ, nĩ kĩĩ mareka? Nĩmegũcookereria rũthingo rwao? Nĩmekũruta magongona? Nĩmekũrĩkia wĩra ũyũ na mũthenya ũmwe? Maahota gũtũma mahiga macooke muoyo kuuma hĩba-inĩ ici cia mahuti maya mahĩĩte ũũ wothe?”
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]
3 Tobia ũrĩa Mũamoni, ũrĩa warĩ mwena wake, akiuga atĩrĩ, “Rũthingo rũu rwa mahiga maraaka-rĩ, o na mbwe ĩngĩrũhaica no ĩrũmomore!”
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!”
4 No rĩrĩ, Wee Ngai witũ tũthikĩrĩrie, tondũ tũrĩ andũ anyarare. Garũra irumi icio ciao imacookerere. Maneane ta matahĩtwo bũrũri-inĩ wa ũkombo.
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!
5 Ndũkahithĩrĩre mahĩtia mao kana weherie mehia mao kuuma ũthiũ-inĩ waku, nĩgũkorwo nĩmarumĩte andũ arĩa maraaka.
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!”
6 Nĩ ũndũ ũcio tũgĩaka rũthingo rũu rĩngĩ o nginya ruothe rũgĩkinya nuthu ya ũraihu waruo, nĩgũkorwo andũ acio maarutire wĩra na ngoro cia kwĩyendera.
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.
7 No hĩndĩ ĩrĩa Sanibalati, na Tobia, na Aarabu, na Aamoni, na andũ a Ashidodi maiguire atĩ thingo cia Jerusalemu nĩciathiiaga na mbere gũcookererio na atĩ mĩanya nĩyathingagwo-rĩ, makĩrakara mũno.
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.
8 Magĩthiĩ ndundu marĩ othe, magĩciira ũrĩa megũka mahũũrane na Jerusalemu, na mambĩrĩrie ngũĩ kuo.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 No nĩtwahooire Ngai witũ na tũkĩiga arangĩri a gũtũgitĩra mũthenya na ũtukũ nĩ ũndũ nĩtwehĩtĩirwo.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 O ihinda rĩu, andũ a Juda makiuga atĩrĩ, “Aruti a wĩra nĩmaroorwo nĩ hinya, na nĩ kũrĩ na mahuti maingĩ mũno matangĩreka twake rũthingo rũu rĩngĩ.”
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.
11 O nacio thũ ciitũ ikiuga atĩrĩ, “Mũira wa mamenye ũhoro kana matuone, tũgũkorwo hamwe nao, tũmoorage na tũtũme wĩra ũcio ũtige kũrutwo.”
“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]!’”
12 Hĩndĩ ĩyo Ayahudi arĩa maatũũraga hakuhĩ na thũ icio magĩũka, magĩtwĩra maita ikũmi atĩrĩ, “O kũrĩa mũngĩũrĩra-rĩ, nĩmegũtũtharĩkĩra.”
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!”
13 Nĩ ũndũ ũcio ngĩiga andũ amwe na thuutha wa kũrĩa rũthingo rwarĩ thĩ mũno na gũtaarĩ na ũgitĩri; ngĩmaiga kũringana na nyũmba ciao marĩ na hiũ ciao cia njora, na matimũ, na mota.
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].
14 Ndaarĩkia kuona ũrĩa maũndũ maatariĩ, ngĩrũgama ngĩĩra andũ arĩa maarĩ igweta, na anene, na andũ arĩa angĩ atĩrĩ, “Mũtikametigĩre. Ririkanai Mwathani, o we ũrĩa mũnene na wa kũmakania, nĩguo mũrũĩrĩre ariũ a thoguo, na aanake anyu, na airĩtu anyu, na atumia anyu, o na mĩciĩ yanyu.”
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!”
15 Rĩrĩa thũ ciitũ ciamenyire atĩ nĩtwamenyete ũhoro wa ndundu yao, na atĩ Ngai nĩarigĩrĩirie ũndũ ũcio, ithuothe tũgĩcooka rũthingo-inĩ, o mũndũ agĩthiĩ wĩra-inĩ wake.
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.
16 Kuuma mũthenya ũcio nuthu ya andũ akwa nĩo maarutaga wĩra nayo nuthu ĩyo ĩngĩ yao makĩheo matimũ, na ngo, na mota, o na nguo cia kĩgera. Anene nao makĩrũgama thuutha wa andũ othe a Juda
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.
17 arĩa maakaga rũthingo. Nao arĩa maakuuaga indo cia mwako maarutaga wĩra na guoko kũmwe, nakuo kũrĩa kũngĩ kũnyiitĩte kĩndũ kĩa mbaara,
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.
18 nake mwaki o wothe aikaraga eyohete rũhiũ rwake rwa njora njohero o akĩrutaga wĩra. No mũhuhi wa karumbeta aanjikaraga hakuhĩ.
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.
19 Ningĩ ngĩĩra arĩa maarĩ igweta, na anene, na andũ arĩa angĩ atĩrĩ, “Wĩra nĩ mũingĩ mũno na ũgatambũrũka, na nĩtũraihanĩrĩirie mũno mũndũ na ũrĩa ũngĩ rũthingo-inĩ.
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.
20 Rĩrĩa rĩothe mũngĩigua karumbeta kaahuhwo, mũũke harĩa tũrĩ. Ngai witũ nĩwe ũgũtũrũĩrĩra!”
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 Nĩ ũndũ ũcio tũgĩthiĩ na mbere na kũruta wĩra, nuthu ya andũ ĩnyiitĩte matimũ kuuma rũciinĩ nginya njata cioneke hwaĩ-inĩ.
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].
22 Hĩndĩ o ĩyo ngĩĩra andũ atĩrĩ, “Reke o mũndũ na mũteithia wake maikarage Jerusalemu thĩinĩ ũtukũ, nĩgeetha matũtungatagĩre ta arangĩri ũtukũ, na mũthenya makaruta wĩra.”
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.”
23 Niĩ mwene, kana ariũ a baba, kana andũ akwa, kana arangĩri arĩa maarĩ hamwe na niĩ gũtirĩ warutaga nguo; o mũndũ aakoragwo na indo ciake cia mbaara o na agĩthiĩ gũtaha maaĩ.
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.
