Nehemiæ 4
1 factum est autem cum audisset Sanaballat quod aedificaremus murum iratus est valde et motus nimis subsannavit Iudaeos
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 et dixit coram fratribus suis et frequentia Samaritanorum quid Iudaei inbecilli faciunt num dimittent eos gentes num sacrificabunt et conplebunt in una die numquid aedificare poterunt lapides de acervis pulveris qui conbusti sunt
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 sed et Tobias Ammanites proximus eius ait aedificent si ascenderit vulpis transiliet murum eorum lapideum
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 audi Deus noster quia facti sumus despectio converte obprobrium super caput eorum et da eos in despectionem in terra captivitatis
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 ne operias iniquitatem eorum et peccatum eorum coram facie tua non deleatur quia inriserunt aedificantes
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 itaque aedificavimus murum et coniunximus totum usque ad partem dimidiam et provocatum est cor populi ad operandum
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 factum est autem cum audisset Sanaballat et Tobias et Arabes et Ammanitae et Azotii quod obducta esset cicatrix muri Hierusalem et quod coepissent interrupta concludi irati sunt nimis
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 et congregati omnes pariter ut venirent et pugnarent contra Hierusalem et molirentur insidias
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 et oravimus Deum nostrum et posuimus custodes super murum die et nocte contra eos
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 dixit autem Iudas debilitata est fortitudo portantis et humus nimia est et nos non poterimus aedificare murum
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 et dixerunt hostes nostri nesciant et ignorent donec veniamus in medio eorum et interficiamus eos et cessare faciamus opus
“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 factum est autem venientibus Iudaeis qui habitabant iuxta eos et dicentibus nobis per decem vices ex omnibus locis quibus venerant ad nos
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 statui in loco post murum per circuitum populum in ordine cum gladiis suis et lanceis et arcis
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 perspexi atque surrexi et aio ad optimates et ad 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 uxoribus vestris et domibus
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 factum est autem cum audissent inimici nostri nuntiatum esse nobis dissipavit Deus consilium eorum et reversi sumus omnes ad muros unusquisque ad opus suum
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 et factum est a die illa media pars iuvenum eorum faciebant opus et media parata erat ad bellum et lanceae et scuta et arcus et loricae et principes post eos in omni domo Iuda
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 aedificantium in muro et portantium onera et inponentium una manu sua faciebat opus et altera tenebat gladium
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 aedificantium enim unusquisque gladio erat accinctus renes et aedificabant et clangebant bucina iuxta 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 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
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 in loco quocumque audieritis clangorem tubae illuc concurrite ad nos Deus noster pugnabit pro nobis
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 et nos ipsi faciamus opus et media pars nostrum teneat lanceas ab ascensu aurorae donec egrediantur astra
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 in tempore quoque illo dixi populo unusquisque cum puero suo maneat in medio Hierusalem et sint vobis vices per noctem et diem ad operandum
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 ego autem et fratres mei et pueri mei et custodes qui erant post me non deponebamus vestimenta nostra unusquisque tantum nudabatur ad baptismum
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.
