Neemia 4
1 Quando Sanballàt seppe che noi edificavamo le mura, si adirò, si indignò molto, si fece beffe dei Giudei
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 e disse in presenza dei suoi fratelli e dei soldati di Samaria: «Che vogliono fare questi miserabili Giudei? Rifarsi le mura e farvi subito sacrifici? Vogliono finire in un giorno? Vogliono far rivivere pietre sepolte sotto mucchi di polvere e consumate dal fuoco?».
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 l'Ammonita, che gli stava accanto, disse: «Edifichino pure! Se una volpe vi salta su, farà crollare il loro muro di pietra!».
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 Ascolta, Dio nostro, come siamo disprezzati! Fà ricadere sul loro capo il loro dileggio e abbandonali al saccheggio in un paese di schiavitù!
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 Non coprire la loro iniquità e non sia cancellato dalla tua vista il loro peccato, perché hanno offeso i costruttori.
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 Noi dunque andavamo ricostruendo le mura che furono dappertutto portate fino a metà altezza; il popolo aveva preso a cuore il lavoro.
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 Ma quando Sanballàt, Tobia, gli Arabi, gli Ammoniti e gli Asdoditi seppero che la riparazione delle mura di Gerusalemme progrediva e che le brecce cominciavano a chiudersi, si adirarono molto
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 e tutti assieme congiurarono di venire ad attaccare Gerusalemme e crearvi confusione.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 Allora noi pregammo il nostro Dio e contro di loro mettemmo sentinelle di giorno e di notte per difenderci dai loro attacchi.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 Quelli di Giuda dicevano: «Le forze dei portatori vengono meno e le macerie sono molte; noi non potremo costruire le mura!».
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 I nostri avversari dicevano: «Senza che s'accorgano di nulla, noi piomberemo in mezzo a loro, li uccideremo e faremo cessare i lavori».
“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 Poiché i Giudei che dimoravano vicino a loro vennero a riferirci dieci volte: «Da tutti i luoghi ai quali vi volgete, essi saranno contro di noi»,
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 io, nelle parti sottostanti a ciascun posto oltre le mura, in luoghi scoperti, disposi il popolo per famiglie, con le loro spade, le loro lance, i loro archi.
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 Dopo aver considerato la cosa, mi alzai e dissi ai notabili, ai magistrati e al resto del popolo: «Non li temete! Ricordatevi del Signore grande e tremendo; combattete per i vostri fratelli, per i vostri figli e le vostre figlie, per le vostre mogli e per le vostre case!».
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 Quando i nostri nemici vennero a sapere che eravamo informati della cosa, Dio fece fallire il loro disegno e noi tutti tornammo alle mura, ognuno al suo lavoro.
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 Da quel giorno la metà dei miei giovani lavorava e l'altra metà stava armata di lance, di scudi, di archi, di corazze; i capi erano dietro tutta la casa di Giuda.
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 Quelli che costruivano le mura e quelli che portavano o caricavano i pesi, con una mano lavoravano e con l'altra tenevano la loro arma;
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 tutti i costruttori, lavorando, portavano ciascuno la spada cinta ai fianchi. Il trombettiere stava accanto a me.
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 Dissi allora ai notabili, ai magistrati e al resto del popolo: «L'opera è grande ed estesa e noi siamo sparsi sulle mura e distanti l'uno dall'altro.
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 Dovunque udirete il suono della tromba, raccoglietevi presso di noi; il nostro Dio combatterà per noi».
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 Così continuavamo i lavori, mentre la metà della mia gente teneva impugnata la lancia, dall'apparire dell'alba allo spuntar delle stelle.
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 Anche in quell'occasione dissi al popolo: «Ognuno con il suo aiutante passi la notte dentro Gerusalemme, per far con noi la guardia durante la notte e riprendere il lavoro di giorno».
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 Io poi, i miei fratelli, i miei servi e gli uomini di guardia che mi seguivano, non ci togliemmo mai le vesti; ognuno teneva l'arma a portata di mano.
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.
