Nehemiah 6
1 Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, ac mwet lokoalok lasr saya elos lohngak lah kut aksafyela tari pot uh, ac wangin acn lula ma soenna fonfon uh, tusruktu soenna tulokyak srungul nu ke mutunpot uh.
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 Ouinge Sanballat ac Geshem sapma nu sik tuh nga in osun yoroltal in sie siti ke acn tupasrpasr in acn Ono. Kutasrik se laltal pa inge, tuh eltal in orek lokoalok nu sik.
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 Nga supwala mwet utuk kas in fahk nu seltal, “Nga kafofo ke sie orekma na yohk sripa, ac nga tia ku in fahsrot. Nga ac tia tulokinya orekma uh tuh nga in tufoki nu yurumtal.”
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 Pacl akosr eltal supu kas sacna, ac ke kais sie pacl nga topkolos ke top sacna.
They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
5 Na Sanballat el supwama sie sin mwet kulansap lal nu yuruk ke sap soko aklimekosr, ac ma se inge tuku ke sie leta ma tia kauli.
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 Pa inge kas kac uh: “Geshem el fahk nu sik mu oasr kas se srumunyuk inmasrlon mutanfahl raunikutla inge lah kom ac mwet Jew akola in tuyak lain kut, pa pwanang kowos sifil musai pot an. El fahk pac mu kom sifacna nunku in oru tuh kom in tokosra faclos,
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 ac kom sapkin nu sin kutu mwet palu tuh elos in sulkakin in acn Jerusalem lah kom pa tokosra lun Judah. Kalem lah Tokosra Fulat Artaxerxes el ac lohng ke ma inge, na pa nga ngisre tuh nga kom in osun ac aetuila ke ma inge nukewa.”
[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 Nga supwala top se inge nu sel: “Wangin kas pwaye ke ma kom fahk an. Ma na kom sifacna kinauk.”
[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 Elos srike na in aksangengye kut in tulokinya orekma uh. Na nga pre ac fahk, “Inge, O God, oru tuh nga in ku!”
[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 Ke pacl se inge, nga tuh tufokla in mutwata yorol Shemaiah su tia ku in illa liki lohm sel — el wen natul Delaiah, wen natul Mehetabel. El fahk nu sik, “Nga kom enenu in som ac tukeni wikla in Acn Mutal ke Tempul, ac lakiya srungul uh, mweyen elos ac tuku in unikomi. Siena sin fong inge elos ac tuku unikomi.”
[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 Na nga topuk ac fahk, “Nga tia kain mwet se ma kaing ac wikwik. Ya kom nunku mu nga ac som wikla in Tempul in molela moul luk? Nga fah tiana.”
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 Ke nga nunku kac, nga akilen tuh God El tiana kaskas nu sel Shemaiah, a Tobiah ac Sanballat tuh moli nu sel elan fahk nu sik kas in sensenkakin inge.
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 Eltal moleang nu sel elan aksangengyeyu nga in oru ma koluk, eltal in mau akkolukyela inek, ac aklusrongtenyeyu.
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 Nga pre, “O God, esamya ma Tobiah ac Sanballat eltal orala, ac sang kaiyuk nu seltal. Esam pac mutan sac Noadiah ac mwet palu saya nukewa su tuh srike in aksangengyeyu.”
[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 Ke len aklongoul limekosr ke malem Elul, tukun len in orekma lumngaul luo, nufonna pot sac aksafyeyukla.
On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
16 Ke mwet lokoalok lasr in mutunfacl ma apinkutla lohng kac, elos pulakunak lah elos mwekinla, mweyen mwet nukewa etu na lah orekma sac orekla ke kasreyuk lun God.
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 In pulan pacl sac nufon, leta puspis supweyuk inmasrlon mwet kol lun mwet Jew ac Tobiah.
During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.
18 Mwet puspis in Judah tuh welul lac, mweyen papa talupal Tobiah pa Shecaniah, sie mwet Jew, wen natul Arah. Wikin pac lah Jehohanan, wen natul Tobiah, el payuk sin acn se natul Meshullam, wen natul Berechiah.
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 Mwet uh kaskas na ye mutuk in srumun orekma wo nukewa Tobiah el orala, ac elos fahk pac nu sel ma nukewa ma nga fahk. A el nuna supweyuk leta nu sik in srike in aksangengyeyu.
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.
