Nahimiyaa 4
1 Sanbalaaxi akka nu dallaa kana deebifnee ijaaraa jirru dhageenyaan aariin gubatee dheekkame. Innis Yihuudootatti qoosee
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 fuula obboloota isaa fi fuula loltoota Samaariyaa duratti akkana jedhe; “Yihuudoonni dadhaboonni kunneen maal hojjechaa jiru? Isaan dallaa isaanii deebisanii ijaaruu? Aarsaa illee ni dhiʼeessuu? Guyyaa tokko keessatti ni fixuu? Isaan waan akkas gubamee tuulame keessaa dhagaa fuudhanii akka duriitti deebisuu dandaʼuu?”
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 Xoobbiyaan namichi Amoon kan isa bira dhaabate sunis, “Waan isaan ijaaraa jiran kana, dallaa isaanii kan dhagaa kana waangoon iyyuu yoo yaabde ni jigsiti!” jedhe.
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 Yaa Waaqa keenya nu dhagaʼi; nu tuffatamneerraatii. Arraba isaan nu arrabsan matuma isaaniitti deebisi. Boojuudhaaf dabarsii biyya ormaatti isaan kenni.
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 Sababii isaan fuula ijaartotaa duratti dheekkamsaaf si kakaasaniif yakka isaanii hin dhoksiniif yookaan cubbuu isaanii fuula kee duraa hin haqiniif.
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 Nu akkasiin dallaa sana hamma inni walakkaa dheerina isaa gaʼutti deebifnee ijaarre; namoonni garaa tokkoon hojjechaa turaniitii.
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 Garuu Sanbalaaxi, Xoobbiyaan, Araboonni, Amoononnii fi namoonni Ashdood yommuu akka haaromfamuun dallaa Yerusaalem ittuma fufaa jiruu fi akka qaawwi isaa duuchamaa jiru dhagaʼanitti akka malee aaran.
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 Isaan hundinuu dhufanii Yerusaalemin loluu fi rakkina itti fiduudhaaf tokkummaadhaan malatan.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 Nu garuu Waaqa keenya kadhannee doorsisa kana of irraa ittisuuf jennee waardiyyaa halkanii fi guyyaa eegu tokko kaaʼanne.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 Sabni Yihuudaas, “Humni hojjettootaa laafeera; sababii diigamni isaa akka malee guddaa taʼeef nu dallaa kana deebifnee ijaaruu hin dandeenyu” jedhe.
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 Diinonni keenyas, “Utuu isaan hin beekin yookaan nu hin argin isaan gidduu seennee isaan fixnee hojii sana dhaabbachiifna” jedhan.
“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 Yihuudoonni isaanitti dhiʼoo jiraatan dhufanii, “Yoo isin eessa illee dhaqxan isaan inuma nu lolu” jedhanii yeroo kudhan nutti himan.
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 Kanaafuu ani namoota sana keessaa tokko tokko dachaa dallaa duubaan jiru keessa, iddoo ol kaʼaa irratti ramadee akka isaan goraadee, eeboo fi iddaa qabatanii dhaabatan nan godhe.
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 Anis ergan asii fi achi ilaalee booddee ol kaʼee namoota bebeekamoodhaan, qondaaltotaa fi uummata kaaniin akkana nan jedhe; “Isin jara hin sodaatinaa. Gooftaa guddichaa fi sodaachisaa sana yaadadhaatii obboloota keessaniif, ilmaan keessaniif, intallan keessaniif, niitota keessanii fi manneen keessaniif lolaa.”
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 Yeroo diinonni keenya akka nu mala isaaniitti dammaqne, akka Waaqnis mala isaanii sana jalaa diige dhagaʼanitti nu hundi gara dallaatti, tokkoon tokkoon keenyas hojii keenyatti deebine.
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 Gaafasii jalqabee namoota koo keessaa walakkaan isaanii hojii hojjetanii walakkaan kaan immoo eeboo, gaachana, iddaa fi miʼa lolaa hidhatan. Ajajjoonnis saba Yihuudaa hunda duubaan dhaabachaa turan;
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 warri dallaa ijaaranii fi baʼaa baatanis harka tokkoon ni hojjetu, harka tokkoon immoo miʼa lolaa qabatu turan;
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 tokkoon tokkoon ijaartota sanaa goraadee ofii isaanii mudhiitti hidhatanii hojii hojjetan. Namichi malakata afuufu garuu na wajjin ture.
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 Anis namoota bebeekamoodhaan, qondaaltotaa fi uummata kaaniin akkana nan jedhe; “Hojiin kun guddaa fi balʼaa dha; tokkoon tokkoon keenyas gargar fagaannee dallaa irra jirra.
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 Iddoo itti sagalee malakataa dhageessan kamitti iyyuu nutti makamaa. Waaqni keenya nuuf lolaa!”
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 Kanaafuu nu barii barraaqaa jalqabnee hamma urjiiwwan baʼanitti akkuma namoota keenya keessaa gariin eeboo qabatanii jiranitti hojii itti fufne.
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 Anis yeroo sanatti namootaan akkanan jedhe; “Akka isaan halkan akka eegdotaatti, guyyaa immoo akka hojjettootaatti nu tajaajiluu dandaʼaniif nama kam iyyuu gargaaraa isaa wajjin halkan Yerusaalem keessa tursaa.”
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 Anis, obboloonni koos, namoonni koos, eegdonni na wajjin turanis uffata keenya hin baafanne; tokkoon tokkoon namaa yeroo bishaan barbaacha deemu illee miʼa isaa kan waraanaa harkatti qabata ture.
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.
