Nehemia 4
1 Zvino Sanibharati paakanzwa kuti takanga tava kuvakazve rusvingo, akatsamwa uye akava nehasha kwazvo. Akashora vaJudha
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 pamberi pehama dzake nehondo yeSamaria, achiti, “Ko, vaJudha avo vasina simba vari kuiteiko? Ko, vachavakazve rusvingo rwavo here? Vachapa zvibayiro here? Vachapedza nezuva rimwe chete here? Ko, vangadzorera upenyu pamatombo ayo akaunganidzwa, akatsva sezvaakaita izvi here?”
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 Tobhia muAmoni, aiva parutivi pake, akati, “Chavari kuvaka ichi, kana dai gava raikwira pamusoro pacho, raitokoromora rusvingo rwavo rwamatombo!”
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 Haiwa, Mwari wedu, tinzwei, nokuti tiri kuzvidzwa. Dzorerai kutuka kwavo pamusoro pavo. Ngavave sevakapambwa munyika yenhapwa.
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 Musafukidza kuipa kwavo kana kudzima zvivi zvavo pamberi penyu, nokuti vakakusha mashoko okutuka pamberi pavavaki.
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 Saka takavakazve rusvingo kudzamara rwose rwasvika pahafu yokukwirira kwarwo, nokuti vanhu vaishanda nemwoyo yavo yose.
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 Asi Sanibharati, Tobhia, navaArabhu, navaAmoni navarume veAshidhodhi, vakati vanzwa kuti masvingo eJerusarema ari kugadzirwa, uye kuti makakoromoka maivakwa pakare, vakatsamwa kwazvo.
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 Vakarangana vose pamwe chete kuti vazorwa neJerusarema uye kuti varimutsire mhirizhonga.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 Asi takanyengetera kuna Mwari wedu tikaisawo varindi masikati nousiku kuti vapedze dambudziko rokutyisidzira uku.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 Zvichakadaro, vanhu vokwaJudha vakati, “Simba ravabati riri kupera, uye pachine mangwandangwanda akawanda zvokuti hatingakwanisi kuvakazve rusvingo.”
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 Uyezve vavengi vedu vakati, “Vasati vazviziva kana kutiona, tichatenge tavapo pakati pavo uye tichavauraya tigoparadza basa ravo.”
“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 Ipapo vaJudha vakanga vagere pedyo navo vakauya vakatitaurira rune gumi vachiti, “Kupi nokupi kwamuchaenda, vachauya kuzotirwisa.”
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 Naizvozvo ndakaisa vamwe vanhu seri kwenzvimbo dzakaderera dzorusvingo napanzvimbo dzakashama, ndichivaisa nemhuri dzavo, vane minondo yavo, namapfumo uye neuta.
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 Mushure mokunge ndatarisisa zvinhu izvi, ndakasimuka ndikati kuvakuru, navabati nokuruzhinji rwavanhu, “Musavatya. Rangarirai Jehovha, iye mukuru, anotyisa, uye murwire hama dzenyu, vanakomana venyu, navanasikana venyu, vakadzi venyu nemisha yenyu.”
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 Vavengi vedu pavakanzwa kuti takanga taziva rangano yavo uye kuti Mwari akanga aikonesa, tose takadzokera kurusvingo, mumwe nomumwe pabasa rake.
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 Kubva pazuva iro, zvichienda mberi hafu yavanhu vangu vakashanda basa, asi imwe hafu vakanga vakapakata mapfumo, nhoo, uta nenhumbi dzokurwa nadzo. Vatariri vakamira mumashure mavanhu vose vokwaJudha,
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 vaivaka rusvingo. Avo vaitakura zvokuvakisa vakaita basa ravo noruoko rumwe uye rumwe ruoko vakabata chombo chokurwisa,
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 uye muvaki mumwe nomumwe akanga akapfeka munondo wake parutivi, uku achishanda. Asi munhu airidza hwamanda aiva neni.
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 Ipapo ndakati kuvakuru, navatariri noruzhinji rwavanhu, “Basa iguru iri uye rapararira, uye isu tanyanya kuparadzana mumwe kubva kuno mumwe takatevedza rusvingo.
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 Pose pamuchanzwa kurira kwehwamanda, muuye tibatane ikoko. Mwari wedu achatirwira.”
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 Saka takafambira mberi nebasa, hafu yavarume yakabata mapfumo, kubva mambakwedza kusvikira nyeredzi dzichibuda.
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 Panguva iyo ndakati kuvanhu, “Murume mumwe nomumwe nomubatsiri wake ngaagare mukati meJerusarema panguva dzousiku, kuitira kuti vatibatsire kushanda savarindi usiku uyezve savashandi masikati.”
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 Zvino ini nehama dzangu kana vanhu vangu kana varindi vaiva neni hatina kubvisa nguo dzedu; mumwe nomumwe aiva nomunondo wake, kunyange paaienda kundonwa mvura.
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.
