Neyemi 4
1 Tango Sanibala ayokaki ete tozali kotonga lisusu mir, asepelaki ata moke te mpe atombokaki makasi. Akomaki kotiola Bayuda
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 mpe koloba liboso ya baninga na ye mpe ya mampinga ya Samari: — Bayuda oyo balemba-lemba boye bazali kosala nini? Bakanisi ete bakotelemisa lisusu mir na bango to kobonza lisusu mbeka? Bakanisi penza ete, mokolo moko, bakosilisa mosala oyo to bakokoka solo kopesa bomoi na mabanga oyo ekundama na se ya mabele mpe esila kozika?
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 Tobiya, moto ya Amoni, oyo azalaki pembeni na ye alobaki: — Nini yango penza bazali kotonga! Mir oyo, soki ata mbwa moko ya zamba emati na likolo na yango, ekokweya!
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 Oh Nzambe na biso, yoka biso, pamba te totiolami! Sala ete kotiola na bango ezonga na mito na bango moko! Kaba bango na mboka ya bowumbu lokola bomengo ya bitumba.
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 Kozipa mabe na bango te mpe kolongola masumu na bango na miso na Yo te, pamba te basili kofinga bato oyo bazali kotonga mir.
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 Bongo tokobaki kotonga mir yango kino nyonso ekomaki na kati-kati ya bosanda, pamba te moto nyonso azalaki kosala mosala na motema na ye mobimba.
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 Tango Sanibala, Tobiya, bato ya mokili ya Arabi, ya Amoni mpe ya Asidodi bayokaki ete misala ya kobongisa bamir ya Yelusalemi mpe ya kobamba madusu na yango epusani, batombokaki makasi.
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 Bango nyonso basanganaki mpo na koya kobundisa Yelusalemi mpe kotia mobulu kati na yango.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 Kasi tosambelaki Nzambe na biso mpe totiaki bakengeli, butu mpe moyi, mpo ete babundela biso liboso na bango.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 Nzokande, na tango yango kaka, bato ya Yuda bazalaki koyimayima: « Awa bato oyo bazali komema mabele bazali lisusu na makasi te, mpe mipiku ya mabanga ya mir oyo ekweya ezali nanu ya komata, tokotikala kolonga te kotonga lisusu mir oyo! »
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 Na ngambo ya banguna na biso, bazalaki koloba: « Liboso na bango koyeba ete ezali biso mpe komona biso na miso, tokomikotela kati na bango na pwasa mpo ete toboma bango mpe tosukisa mosala na bango. »
“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 Nzokande, Bayuda oyo bazalaki kovanda kati na bango bayaki mbala zomi koyebisa biso mabongisi na bango: « Na bisika nyonso oyo bokozala, bakobundisa biso! »
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 Yango wana, natiaki bato na se, na sima ya mir, na bisika ya polele; natiaki bango na masanga kolanda bituka na bango; mpe basimbaki mipanga, makonga mpe matolotolo na bango.
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 Sima na ngai kolandela malamu makambo nyonso, natelemaki mpe nalobaki na bankumu, na bakalaka mpe na bato mosusu: « Bobanga bango te! Bokanisa Yawe oyo azali Nzambe Monene mpe ya somo, mpe bobunda mpo na bandeko na bino, mpo na bana na bino ya mibali mpe ya basi, mpo na basi na bino mpe mpo na bandako na bino! »
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 Tango banguna na biso bayokaki ete toyebi mabongisi na bango mpe ete Nzambe abebisi yango, biso nyonso tozongaki na mir; moko na moko azongelaki mosala na ye.
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 Wuta mokolo wana, kati-kati kaka ya bato na ngai nde bazalaki kosala mosala; kati-kati mosusu basimbaki makonga, banguba, matolotolo mpe balataki bilamba ya bibende oyo batiaka na tolo. Bakonzi ya basoda batelemaki na sima ya bato nyonso ya Yuda.
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 Ezala ba-oyo bazalaki kotonga mir mpe ba-oyo bazalaki komema mabele mpe biloko ya mosala, bango nyonso bazalaki kosala na loboko moko; bongo na loboko mosusu, basimbaki ebundeli.
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 Moko na moko kati na batongi ndako azalaki na mopanga na ye na loketo, mpe azalaki kosala mosala na ye ndenge wana. Na mopanzi na ngai, ezalaki na moto moko abongama mpo na kobeta kelelo.
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 Bongo nalobaki na bankumu, bakalaka mpe bato mosusu: — Mosala ezali nanu monene mpe ekenda na etando molayi; kasi biso topanzani mingi na mir, tozali mosika-mosika, bamoko na bamosusu.
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 Na esika nyonso oyo bokoyoka lolaka ya kelelo, boya noki kosangana na biso; Nzambe na biso akobundela biso.
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 Ezali ndenge wana nde tokobaki mosala na biso elongo na ndambo ya bato basimba makonga na maboko, kobanda na tongo kino na tango oyo minzoto ebimaka.
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 Na tango yango kaka, nalobaki lisusu na bato: « Tika ete moto nyonso alekisaka butu kati na Yelusalemi elongo na mowumbu na ye; boye na butu, bakokengela mpo na biso, mpe na moyi, bakokoba mosala. »
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 Ezala ngai, bandeko na ngai, basali na ngai to bakengeli oyo bazalaki elongo na ngai, moko te azalaki kolongola bilamba na ye; moto nyonso azalaki na ebundeli na ye na loboko ata tango azalaki kokende kosukola.
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.
