Neyemi 6
1 Tango Sanibala, Tobiya, Geshemi, moto ya mokili ya Arabi, mpe banguna na biso mosusu bayokaki ete nasilisi kotonga lisusu mir mpe etikali na lidusu ata moko te, atako na tango wana namitielaki nanu bizipelo ya bikuke te,
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 Sanibala mpe Geshemi batindelaki ngai maloba oyo: — Yaka, tokutana na Kefirimi, kati na lubwaku ya Ono. Bazalaki na likanisi ya kosala ngai mabe.
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 Natindelaki bango bamemi sango koyebisa bango eyano oyo: — Nazali na mosala monene ya kosala, nakokoka te koya kuna. Mpo na nini mosala etelema tango nakotika yango mpo na koya kokutana na bino?
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 Mbala minei, batindelaki ngai sango kaka moko; mpe tango nyonso, ngai mpe nazalaki kozongisela bango eyano kaka moko.
They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
5 Na mbala ya mitano, Sanibala atindelaki ngai sango moko kaka wana na nzela ya mosali na ye, oyo asimbaki mokanda ya kofungwama na loboko na ye.
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 Kati na mokanda yango, bakomaki: « Sango ezali kopanzana kati na bikolo, Geshemi abeti kutu sete mpo na koloba na ngai ete ezali penza solo, ete yo mpe Bayuda bozali komibongisa mpo na kotomboka, mpe ezali mpo na yango nde bozali kotonga lisusu mir oyo. Kolanda sango yango, ozali na posa ya kokoma mokonzi na bango;
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 mpe osili kutu kopona basakoli mpo ete bapanza sango kati na Yelusalemi ete okomi mokonzi ya Yuda! Sik’oyo, yeba ete sango oyo ekokoma kino penza na matoyi ya mokonzi. Boye, yaka mpo ete tosolola na tina na yango! »
[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 Natindelaki ye eyano oyo: — Kati na nyonso oyo olobi, moko te ezali solo. Ezali makambo oyo yo moko ozali kokanisa na moto na yo!
[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 Bato wana nyonso bazalaki koluka kobangisa biso; bazalaki komilobela: — Maboko na bango ekolemba makasi, ekokoka lisusu kosala te; mpe mosala ekosila te, ekotelema! Bakolemba nzoto mpe bakosundola mosala! Kasi ngai nasambelaki: — Sik’oyo, oh Yawe, lendisa maboko na ngai!
[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 Mokolo moko, nakendeki na ndako ya Shemaya, mwana mobali ya Delaya, koko ya Metabeyeli, oyo amikangelaki na ndako na ye. Alobaki: — Tokutana kati na Ndako ya Nzambe, na kati-kati ya Esika ya bule, mpe tokanga bikuke na yango, pamba te bato bazali koya mpo na koboma yo; bakoya na butu mpo na koboma yo.
[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 Kasi nazongiselaki na ye: — Boni, moto lokola ngai akoki penza kokima! Kutu, moto nani lokola ngai akoki kokimela kati na Ndako ya Nzambe mpe abikisa bomoi na ye? Nakokende te!
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 Nasosolaki mbala moko ete ezali Nzambe te nde atindi ye. Kasi apesaki lisakoli wana na tina na ngai, pamba te Tobiya mpe Sanibala bapesaki ye kanyaka.
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 Bapesaki ye kanyaka mpo na kobangisa ngai, mpo ete nasala masumu tango nakolanda toli na ye; mpe mpo ete babebisa lokumu ya kombo na ngai mpe bayokisa ngai soni.
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 Oh Nzambe na ngai, kanisa Tobiya mpe Sanibala mpo na misala na bango! Kanisa lisusu Noadia, mwasi mosakoli, elongo na basakoli mosusu oyo bazalaki komeka kobangisa ngai!
[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 Boye, misala ya kotonga mir esilaki na mokolo ya tuku mibale na mitano ya sanza ya Eluli; esalaki mikolo tuku mitano na mibale.
On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
16 Tango banguna na biso bayokaki sango yango, bato ya bikolo nyonso ya zingazinga bakomaki kobanga mpe koyoka soni na miso na bango moko, mpo ete basosolaki ete ezali kaka na lisungi ya Nzambe na biso nde mosala ya ndenge wana esalemaki.
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 Na mikolo wana, bankumu ya Yuda bazalaki kotinda mikanda ebele epai ya Tobiya, mpe biyano ya Tobiya ezalaki kokomela bango.
During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.
18 Pamba te bato ebele ya Yuda basalaki boyokani elongo na ye, na nzela ya ndayi, mpo ete azalaki bokilo ya Shekania, mwana mobali ya Ara, mpe mpo ete Yoanani, mwana na ye ya mobali, abalaki mwana mwasi ya Meshulami, mwana mobali ya Berekia.
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 Bazalaki kutu kokumisa misala na ye na miso na ngai mpe koyebisa ye maloba na ngai. Ezalaki Tobiya wana moto azalaki kotinda mikanda mpo na kobangisa ngai.
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.
