Neemias 4
1 E foi que, quando Sambalate ouviu que nós edificávamos o muro, ele se indignou muito, e escarneceu dos judeus.
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 E falou diante de seus irmãos e do exército de Samaria, dizendo: O que fazem estes fracos judeus? Será isso lhes permitido? Farão eles sacrifícios? Acabarão isso algum dia? Ressuscitarão dos amontoados de entulho as pedras que foram queimadas?
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 E com ele estava Tobias, o amonita, que disse: Ainda que edifiquem, contudo, se uma raposa vier, ela [sozinha] será capaz de derrubar seu muro de pedra.
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 Ouve, ó Deus nosso, que somos desprezados, e devolve a humilhação deles sobre suas cabeças; e entrega-os para o despojo, na terra do cativeiro;
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 E não cubras a perversidade deles, nem o pecado deles seja riscado diante de teu rosto; pois provocaram à ira diante dos construtores.
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 Edificamos, pois o muro, e todo o muro foi completado até metade [de] sua [altura]; porque o coração do povo estava disposto a trabalhar.
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 E foi que, quando Sambalate e Tobias, e os árabes, os amonitas, e os de Asdode, ouviram que os muros de Jerusalém estavam sendo reparados, que as brechas já começavam a serem fechadas, eles ficaram muito irados.
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 E todos conspiraram entre si para virem guerrear contra Jerusalém, e causarem confusão nela.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 Porém nós oramos a nosso Deus; e pusemos guarda contra eles, dia e noite, por causa deles.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 Então Judá disse: As forças dos carregadores se enfraqueceram, e o entulho é muito; e nós não podemos reconstruir o muro.
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 Porém nossos inimigos diziam: Eles não saibam, nem vejam, até que entremos em meio deles, e os matemos; assim faremos cessar a obra.
“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 E foi que, quando os judeus que habitavam entre eles vieram, dez vezes nos disseram: Por todos os lados para que virardes, [eles estão] contra nós.
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 Então pus [guardas] nos lugares baixos, atrás do muro, [e] nos lugares altos; e pus ao povo por [suas] famílias com suas espadas, suas lanças, e seus arcos.
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 Depois olhei, me levantei, e disse aos nobres, aos oficiais, e aos demais do povo: Não os temais; lembrai-vos do Senhor grande e temível, e lutai por vossos irmãos, por vossos filhos e vossas filhas, por vossas mulheres e vossas casas.
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 E foi que, quando nossos inimigos ouviram falar que já sabíamos [de tudo], e que Deus havia frustrado o plano deles, todos voltamos ao muro, cada um à sua obra.
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 Sucedeu, porém, que desde aquele dia a metade dos meus servos trabalhava na obra, e outra metade deles tinha lanças, escudos, arcos, e couraças; e os líderes estavam por detrás de toda a casa de Judá.
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 Os que edificavam o muro, e os que traziam as cargas [e] os que carregavam, com uma mão faziam a obra, e na outra tinham armas.
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 E cada um dos construtores trazia sua espada cingida a seus lombos, e [assim] edificavam; e o que tocava a trombeta estava junto a mim.
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 E eu disse aos nobres, aos oficiais, e aos demais do povo: A obra é grande e extensa, e nós estamos separados no muro, longe uns dos outros.
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 No lugar onde ouvirdes o som da trombeta, ali vos ajuntareis conosco; nosso Deus lutará por nós.
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 Assim trabalhávamos na obra; e a metade deles tinham lanças desde a subida do amanhecer até o surgir das estrelas.
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 Também naquele tempo eu disse ao povo: Cada um passe a noite com seu servo dentro de Jerusalém, para que de noite nos sirvam de guarda, e de dia na obra.
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 E nem eu, nem meus irmãos, nem meus servos, nem os homens da guarda que me seguiam, nos despíamos de nossas roupas; cada um [mantinha] sua arma [até para] a água.
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.
