Nehemia 4
1 Bere a Sanbalat tee sɛ yɛreto ɔfasu no, ne bo fuw yiye. Nʼani beree yiye, dii Yudafo no ho fɛw,
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 wɔ ne nnamfonom ne Samaria asraafo mpanyimfo anim se, “Dɛn na Yudafo ahiafo, mmɔborɔfokuw yi dwene sɛ wɔreyɛ? Wogye di sɛ, sɛ wɔbɔ afɔre sɛ dɛn koraa a, wobetumi de da koro ato ɔfasu yi ana? Monhwɛ abo a ahyew asɛe yi a wɔreyiyi afi afabo yi mu de ayɛ adwuma bio?”
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 Na Amonni Tobia a na ogyina ne nkyɛn kae se, “Saa abo fasu yi de, sɛ sakraman koraa fa so a, ebedwiriw agu fam!”
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 Na mebɔɔ mpae se, “Yɛn Nyankopɔn, tie yɛn, na wɔredi yɛn ho fɛw. Ma wɔn fɛwdi no mmɔ wɔn ara wɔn ti so, na ma wɔn ankasa nkɔyɛ nnommum wɔ ananafo asase so.
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 Mmu wʼani ngu wɔn afɔdi so. Mpepa wɔn bɔne, efisɛ wɔahyɛ wo abufuw wɔ adansifo yi anim.”
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 Eyi nyinaa akyi no, wɔtoo ɔfasu no kosii dedaw no sorokɔ fa twaa kurow no ho hyiae, efisɛ ɔmanfo no yɛɛ adwumaden.
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 Na bere a Sanbalat ne Tobia ne Arabfo ne Amonfo ne Asdodfo tee sɛ adwuma no rekɔ so na wɔretuatua ɔfasu no mu atokuru no, wɔn bo fuw yiye.
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 Wɔn nyinaa yɛɛ nhyehyɛe sɛ wɔbɛba abɛko atia Yerusalem, na wɔama basabasayɛ aba hɔ.
They all planned to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem [MTY] and to cause trouble.
9 Nanso yɛbɔɔ yɛn Nyankopɔn mpae, wɛn kurow no awia ne anadwo de bɔɔ yɛn ho ban.
But we prayed to our God [to protect us], and we put men [around the walls] to guard [the city] day and night.
10 Afei, nnipa a wɔwɔ Yuda no fii ase nwiinwii kae se, “Adwumayɛfo no rebrɛ, na afabo no dɔɔso, na yɛn nko ara rentumi nyɛ adwuma no.”
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 Bere koro no ara mu no na yɛn atamfo nso reka se, “Ansa na wɔn ani bɛba wɔn ho so no, na yɛatow ahyɛ wɔn so, akunkum wɔn, ama adwuma no aba awiei.”
“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 Yudafo a na wɔte bɛn atamfo no bɛbɔɔ yɛn amanneɛ mpɛn bebree se, “Wobefi afanan nyinaa abɛtow ahyɛ yɛn so.”
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 Enti mede awɛmfo a wokura akode kɔtenaa baabi a ɔfasu no yɛ tia, wɔ mmeaemmeae a ɛhɔ deda hɔ. Memaa mmusuakuw no gyinagyinaa sɛ awɛmfo a, wokurakura afoa, mpeaw ne agyan.
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 Mehwɛɛ sɛnea nneɛma te no, mefrɛɛ ntuanofo no ne ɔmanfo no ka kyerɛɛ wɔn se, “Munnsuro atamfo no! Monkae Awurade a ɔyɛ ɔkɛse ne onuonyamfo no na monko mma mo nnamfonom, mo mmusua ne mo afi.”
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 Bere a yɛn atamfo tee sɛ yɛahu wɔn atirimpɔw ne sɛnea Onyankopɔn asɛe saa atirimpɔw no, yɛn nyinaa san kɔɔ ɔfasu no ho kɔtoaa yɛn adwuma so.
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 Na efi saa bere no, me mmarima no dodow mu fa pɛ na wɔyɛɛ adwuma, na nkae no wɛn hɔ a wokurakura mpeaw, nkatabo, agyan, hyehyɛɛ akotade wɛn hɔ. Mpanyimfo no gyinagyinaa Yudafo no a
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 na wɔreto ɔfasu no akyi. Apaafo no biara de ne nsa baako yɛɛ adwuma bere a nsa baako nso kura akode mu,
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 na adansifo no mu biara wɔ afoa a ɛbɔ nʼataaso. Torobɛntohyɛnni no gyinaa me nkyɛn, na biribi si a, wahyɛn nʼabɛn.
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 Afei, mekyerɛɛ mu kyerɛɛ atitiriw ne adwumayɛfo ne ɔmanfo no nyinaa se, “Adwuma no atrɛw, na yɛn ntam nso woware wɔ ɔfasu no so.
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 Na sɛ mote torobɛnto no nnyigyei a, monyɛ ntɛm nkɔ baabi a nnyigyei no wɔ. Na yɛn Nyankopɔn bɛko ama yɛn.”
If you hear the man blowing the trumpet, gather around us at that place. [Remember that] our God will fight for us!”
21 Yɛkɔɔ adwuma ntɛm tenaa so kyɛe fi bere a owia pue kosi bere a owia kɔtɔ. Na bere biara na nnipa no mu fa rewɛn.
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 Saa bere no meka kyerɛɛ wɔn a wɔtete ɔfasu no akyi no nso se, “Obiara ne ne boafo ntu nkɔ Yerusalem anadwo na ama wɔatumi awɛn anadwo, na wɔayɛ adwuma awia.”
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 Saa bere no, yɛn mu biara, sɛ ɛyɛ me anaa me fifo anaa mʼasomfo anaa awɛmfo a na wɔne me wɔ hɔ no anworɔw ne ntade da. Sɛ yɛrekɔpɛ nsu mpo a na yekurakura yɛn akode.
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.
