Neemi 6
1 Alò, lè l te rapòte a Sanballat, Tobija, Guéschem, Arab la, avèk lòt lènmi nou yo, ke mwen te rebati miray la e ke pa t gen brèch ankò ladann; malgre nan moman sa a, nou potko monte pòt nan pòtay yo,
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).
2 Sanballat avèk Guéschem te voye kote mwen epi te di: “Vini, annou reyini ansanm nan Chephirim nan plèn Ono.” Men se mal ke yo te gen entansyon pou fè m.
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].
3 Konsa, mwen te voye mesaje yo kote yo. Mwen te di: “Mwen ap fè yon gwo travay, e mwen p ap kab desann. Poukisa travay la ta dwe rete pandan mwen kite li pou vin kote nou?”
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]
4 Yo te voye kote mwen kat fwa konsa e mwen te reponn yo menm jan an.
They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
5 Konsa, Sanballat te voye sèvitè li kote mwen yon senkyèm fwa avèk yon lèt ouvri nan men l.
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.
6 Ladann, li te ekri: “Gen yon rapò k ap fèt pami nasyon yo, e Gaschmu ap di ke ou menm avèk Jwif yo gen plan pou fè rebelyon. Ke se pou sa ke w ap rebati miray la. Epi se ou menm ki va wa yo, selon rapò yo.
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.
7 Anplis ke ou te chwazi pwofèt Jérusalem yo pou fè pwoklamasyon pou ou menm, pou ‘Yon wa nan Juda!’ Konsa, yon rapò va voye kote wa a sou rapò sila yo. Pou sa a, vin kounye a, pou nou fè konsèy ansanm.”
[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.”
8 Konsa, mwen te voye kote li. Mwen te di: “Kalite bagay sa yo ke w ap pale yo, pa t janm fèt, men w ap envante yo nan pwòp panse ou.”
[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.”
9 Paske, yo tout t ap eseye fè nou pè e t ap reflechi: “Yo va vin dekouraje avèk travay la, e li p ap fèt.” Men koulye a, O Bondye ranfòse men m.
[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].
10 Lè m te antre lakay Schemaeja, fis a Delaja a, fis a Mehétabeel la, ki pa t kab kite lakay li, li te di: “Annou reyini ansanm lakay Bondye a, anndan tanp lan, annou fèmen pòt tanp yo, paske yo ap vin touye ou. Wi, y ap vini pandan lannwit la pou touye ou.”
[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.”
11 Men mwen te di: “Èske yon nonm tankou mwen ta dwe sove ale kache? Epi èske yon moun tankou mwen ta antre nan tanp lan pou sove lavi li? Mwen p ap antre.”
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 Konsa, mwen te vin apèsi ke anverite, Bondye pa t voye li, men li te eksprime pwofesi a kont mwen akoz Tobija avèk Sanballat te anplwaye li.
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 Li te anplwaye li pou rezon sa a; pou m ta kapab vin pè pou aji konsa e peche, pou yo menm ta kab gen yon move rapò kon repwòch kont mwen.
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.
14 Sonje, O Bondye mwen, Tobija avèk Sanballat selon zèv pa yo, e anplis, pwofetès la, Noadia, ak lòt pwofèt ki te eseye fè m pè yo.
[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.”
15 Konsa, miray la te fini nan venn-senkyèm jou mwa Elul la, sou senkant-de jou.
On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
16 Lè tout lènmi nou yo te tande e tout nasyon ki antoure nou yo, te wè, yo te pèdi kouraj, paske yo te rekonèt ke travay sa a te fèt avèk èd Bondye pa nou an.
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].
17 Anplis, nan jou sa yo, anpil lèt te sòti nan gwo moun a Juda yo bay Tobija e lèt Tobija yo te rive kote yo.
During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.
18 Paske anpil nan yo te mare pa sèman ak li menm, paske li te bofis a Schecania, fis a Arach la e fis pa li a, Jochanan te marye ak fi a Meschullam nan, fis a Bérékia a.
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.
19 Anplis, yo t ap pale afè bon zèv li nan prezans mwen e te bay li rapò a pawòl mwen yo.
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.
