Nehemiæ 4
1 Factum est autem, cum audisset Sanaballat quod ædificaremus murum, iratus est valde: et motus nimis subsannavit Judæos,
And it comes to pass, when Sanballat has heard that we are building the wall, that it is displeasing to him, and he is very angry and mocks at the Jews,
2 et dixit coram fratribus suis, et frequentia Samaritanorum: Quid Judæi faciunt imbecilles? num dimittent eos gentes? num sacrificabunt, et complebunt in una die? numquid ædificare poterunt lapides de acervis pulveris, qui combusti sunt?
and says before his brothers and the force of Samaria, indeed, he says, “What [are] the weak Jews doing? Are they left to themselves? Do they sacrifice? Do they complete in a day? Do they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish—and they are burned?”
3 Sed et Tobias Ammanites, proximus ejus, ait: Ædificent: si ascenderit vulpes, transiliet murum eorum lapideum.
And Tobiah the Ammonite [is] by him and says, “Also, that which they are building—if a fox goes up, then it has broken down their stone wall.”
4 Audi, Deus noster, quia facti sumus despectui: converte opprobrium super caput eorum, et da eos in despectionem in terra captivitatis.
Hear, O our God, for we have been despised; and return their reproach on their own head, and give them for a spoil in a land of captivity;
5 Ne operias iniquitatem eorum, et peccatum eorum coram facie tua non deleatur, quia irriserunt ædificantes.
and do not cover over their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You, for they have provoked [You] to anger in front of those building.
6 Itaque ædificavimus murum, et conjunximus totum usque ad partem dimidiam: et provocatum est cor populi ad operandum.
And we build the wall, and all the wall is joined—to its half, and the people have a heart to work.
7 Factum est autem, cum audisset Sanaballat, et Tobias, et Arabes, et Ammanitæ, et Azotii, quod obducta esset cicatrix muri Jerusalem, et quod cœpissent interrupta concludi, irati sunt nimis.
And it comes to pass, when Sanballat has heard, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, that lengthening has gone up to the walls of Jerusalem, that the breeches have begun to be stopped, then it is very displeasing to them,
8 Et congregati sunt omnes pariter ut venirent, et pugnarent contra Jerusalem, et molirentur insidias.
and they conspire, all of them together, to come to fight against Jerusalem, and to do to it injury.
9 Et oravimus Deum nostrum, et posuimus custodes super murum die ac nocte contra eos.
And we pray to our God, and appoint a watch against them, by day and by night, because of them.
10 Dixit autem Judas: Debilitata est fortitudo portantis, et humus nimia est, et nos non poterimus ædificare murum.
And Judah says, “The power of the burden-bearers has become feeble, and the rubbish [is] abundant, and we are not able to build on the wall.”
11 Et dixerunt hostes nostri: Nesciant, et ignorent donec veniamus in medium eorum, et interficiamus eos, et cessare faciamus opus.
And our adversaries say, “They do not know, nor see, until we come into their midst, and have slain them, and caused the work to cease.”
12 Factum est autem venientibus Judæis qui habitabant juxta eos, et dicentibus nobis per decem vices, ex omnibus locis quibus venerant ad nos,
And it comes to pass, when the Jews have come who are dwelling near them, that they say to us ten times from all the places to where you return—[they are] against us.
13 statui in loco post murum per circuitum populum in ordinem cum gladiis suis, et lanceis, et arcubus.
And I appoint at the lowest of the places, at the back of the wall, in the clear places, indeed, I appoint the people, by their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 Et perspexi atque surrexi: et aio ad optimates et magistratus, et ad reliquam partem vulgi: Nolite timere a facie eorum: Domini magni et terribilis mementote, et pugnate pro fratribus vestris, filiis vestris, et filiabus vestris, et uxoribus vestris, et domibus vestris.
And I see, and rise up, and say to the nobles, and to the prefects, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord, the great and the fearful, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 Factum est autem, cum audissent inimici nostri nuntiatum esse nobis, dissipavit Deus consilium eorum. Et reversi sumus omnes ad muros, unusquisque ad opus suum.
And it comes to pass, when our enemies have heard that it has been known to us, and God frustrates their counsel, and we return, all of us, to the wall, each to his work;
16 Et factum est a die illa, media pars juvenum eorum faciebat opus, et media parata erat ad bellum: et lanceæ, et scuta, et arcus, et loricæ, et principes post eos in omni domo Juda.
indeed, it comes to pass, from that day, half of my servants are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the heads [are] behind all the house of Judah.
17 Ædificantium in muro, et portantium onera, et imponentium: una manu sua faciebat opus, et altera tenebat gladium:
The builders on the wall, and the bearers of the burden, those loading, [each] with one of his hands is working in the business, and one is laying hold of the missile.
18 ædificentium enim unusquisque gladio erat accinctus renes. Et ædificabant, et clangebant buccina juxta me.
And the builders [are] each with his sword, girded on his loins, and building, and he who is blowing with a horn [is] beside me.
19 Et dixi ad optimates, et ad magistratus, et ad reliquam partem vulgi: Opus grande est et latum, et nos separati sumus in muro procul alter ab altero:
And I say to the nobles, and to the prefects, and to the rest of the people, “The work is abundant, and large, and we are separated on the wall, far off from one another;
20 in loco quocumque audieritis clangorem tubæ, illuc concurrite ad nos: Deus noster pugnabit pro nobis.
in the place that you hear the voice of the horn there you are gathered to us; our God fights for us.”
21 Et nos ipsi faciamus opus, et media pars nostrum teneat lanceas ab ascensu auroræ donec egrediantur astra.
And we are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of the spears, from the going up of the dawn until the coming forth of the stars.
22 In tempore quoque illo dixi populo: Unusquisque cum puero suo maneat in medio Jerusalem, et sint nobis vices per noctem et diem ad operandum.
Also, at that time I said to the people, “Let each lodge with his servant in the midst of Jerusalem, and they have been a watch for us by night, and [for] the work by day”:
23 Ego autem et fratres mei, et pueri mei, et custodes, qui erant post me, non deponebamus vestimenta nostra: unusquisque tantum nudabatur ad baptismum.
and there are none—I, and my brothers, and my servants, the men of the watch who [are] after me—there are none of us putting off our garments, each [has] his vessel of water.
