Nehemia 4
1 Aa naho jinanji’ i Sanbalate t’ie namboatse i kijoliy, le niboseke vaho am-piforoforoañe mandofiry ty nañabiaña’e o nte-Iehodao.
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 Nisaontsie’e añatrefa’ o rahalahi’eo naho o lahindefo’ i Someroneo ty hoe: Ino ty amboare’ o nte-Iehodà mavozoo? Hamboatse an-tsatrin-troke hao? Hanao soroñe hao? Ho fonire’ iareo ami’ty andro’e hao? Hampisotrafe’ iereo amo votrim-porompotse niforototoe’ iereoo hao o vatoo?
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 Aa hoe t’i Tobià nte Amore mpiama’e: Toe hirotsake i kijolim-batoy te anganiha’ ty fanaloke i amboare’ iareoy.
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 Mijanjiña ry Andrianañahare’ay fa sirikaen-jahay, le afotero añ’ ambone’ iareo o inje’ iareoo, le atoloro ho kopaheñe an-tanem-pandrohizañe añe;
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 le ko takonañe o hakeo’eo vaho ko faopaoheñe añatrefa’o o tahi’eo, ie mikai-jaka ama’o añatrefa’ o mpamboatseo.
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 Aa le namboare’ay i kijoliy vaho nifampikatoke iaby i kijoliy pak’ami’ty antsasa’ ty haabo’e; ie nitoloñeñe an-joton-troke.
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 Ie jinanji’ i Sanbalate naho i Tobià naho o nte-Arabeo naho o nte Amoneo naho o nte-Asdodeo te niraorao ty fandrafetañe ty kijoli’ Ierosalaime naho fa ho nikiteke iaby o heba’eo, le niforoforo
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 vaho fonga nitrao-pikinia ho mb’eo hialy am’ Ierosalaime hampifandrakaraka ty ao.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 F’ie nihalaly aman’ Añaharentika, vaho nampijadoñe fijilovañe handro an-kaleñe ty am’ iereo.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 Le hoe t’Iehoda: fa nifotsake ty haozara’ o mpijinio naho maro o forompotseo; aa le sarotse’ ama’ay ty mandranjy i kijoliy.
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 Le hoe o rafelahi’aio: Tsy hahafohiñe tsy hahaisake ampara’ te añivo ao tika hanjamañe iereo, hanjitse i fitoloñañey.
“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 Ie amy zao, niheo mb’ama’ay mb’eo o nte-Iehoda nimoneñe marine iereoo, le tinaro’ iareo ama’ay im-polo te ho horidañeñe ndra aia’aia ty itolihañe.
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 Aa le navotrako ankalo’ o fange’e loho ambane amy kijoliio, toe amo heba’eo, ty ondaty, sindre ty amo hasavereña’eo, reketse ty fibara’e naho lefo’e vaho fale’e.
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 Ie nisary iraho le niongake nanao ty hoe amo mpifeheo naho am’ ondaty ila’eo, ty hoe: Ko ihembañañe, tiahio i Talè jabahinake naho maharevendreveñey vaho mialia ho an-drolongo’ areo, o ana-dahi’ areoo naho o anak’ ampela’ areoo, o tañanjomba’ areoo vaho o anjomba’ areoo.
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 Aa ie jinanji’ o rafelahintikañeo t’ie napota’ay naho te nikoahen’ Añahare i fikililia’ iareoy, le songa nihereñe mb’an-kijoly mb’eo zahay, sindre mb’ am-pitoloña’e mb’eo.
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 Aa ie henane zay, nifanehak’ amy fitoloñañey ty vaki’ o mpitorokoo, le nitan-defoñe naho fikalan-defo naho fale vaho sikim-bý ty vaki’e; le nijadoñe amboho’ i anjomba’ Iehodà iabio o mpifeheo.
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 Le songa nifanehake am-pità’e raik’ amy fitoloñañey vaho nitàm-pialiañe ty ila’ o nandranjy i kijoliio naho o mpijiny kilankañeo.
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 Le o mpandranjio; songa an-deme’e eo ty kotram-pibara’e, ie nitolom-pandranjy avao. Nirekets’ amako ty mpampipopò antsiva.
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 Aa hoe iraho amo mpiaoloo naho amo mpifeheo naho am’ondaty ila’eo, Jabajaba naho mamalan-tane i fitoloñañey, le miparaitak’ amy kijoliy tika, mifankalavitse.
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 Aa ndra an-toetse aia aia ty ijanjiña’ areo i fivolan’ antsivay le mihitrifa mb’ ama’ay mb’eo, fa hialy ho antika t’i Andrianañaharen-tika.
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 Aa le nifanehak’ amy fitoloñañey zahay naho nitàn-defoñe ty vaki’e, sikal’ ami’ty manjirik’ andro ampara’ ty fanjoam-basiañe.
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 Le hoe ka iraho henane zay am’ondatio: Ehe te songa hitobe e Ierosalaime atoy reke-mpitoroñe ondatio, hañambenan-tika haleñe vaho hifanehake handro.
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 Aa le tsy izaho, ndra o mpitorokoo, ndra o mpiamo mpañambeñe nañorik’ ahio, eka, leo raik’ ama’ay tsy nañafa-tsiky; sindre ninday ty fialia’e mb’an-drano mb’eo.
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.
