6

Yeeb ncuab tuav tswvyim ua phem

¹Thaus muaj tuabneeg moog has rua Xaanpala hab Thaunpia hab Kesee, kws yog tuabneeg Alam, hab lwm tug kws ua yeeb ncuab rua peb paub tas kuv tau ua lub ntsaa loog hab khu tej qhov kws pob tav lawm (lub swjhawm ntawd kuv tsw tau nruab txhwb qhov rooj rua ntawm rooj loog), ²mas Xaanpala hab Kesee khaiv tuabneeg tuaj has rua kuv tas, “Thov koj tuaj ntswb peb rua huv ib lub zog ntawm lub taj Aunau.” Tub yog puab tuav huv yuav ua phem rua kuv ntaag. ³Kuv txhad khaiv tuabneeg moog has rua puab tas, “Kuv saamswm ua num tseem ceeb kawg, tuaj tsw tau. Ua caag peb yuav tso num tseg rua thaus kuv tawm moog cuag mej?” ⁴Mas puab tseed khaiv tuabneeg tuaj has rua kuv le nuav plaub zag, kuv kuj teb puab ib yaam nkaus hab. ⁵Zag tswb Xaanpala khaiv nwg ib tug tub teg tub taw tuaj cuag kuv ib yaam le qub hab coj ib tsaab ntawv qheb quas lug tuaj. ⁶Huv tsaab ntawv sau has tas, “Muaj xuv huv ib tsoom tuabneeg hab Kesee kuj has tas, koj hab cov Yutai npaaj sab yuav faav xeeb. Yog le nuav koj txhad ua lub ntsaa loog, hab koj xaav ua puab tug vaajntxwv lawv le tej xuv nuav. ⁷Hab koj tub tsaa cov xwbfwb cev Vaajtswv lug tshaaj tawm txug koj rua huv Yeluxalee tas, ‘Muaj ib tug vaajntxwv huv Yuta lawm.’ Nwgnuav yuav has tej lug nuav moog rua vaajntxwv paub. Vem le nuav thov koj tuaj es ib sablaaj ua ke.” ⁸Mas kuv txhad tso tuabneeg moog has rua nwg tas, “Yaam kws koj has kod kuv yeej tsw tau ua le, koj xaav tswvyim lawv le koj lub sab xwb.” ⁹Tsua qhov puab suavdawg xaav hem kuas peb ntshai, hab xaav tas peb txhais teg yuav tso daag num tseg hab tej num yuav tsw tav. Au Vaajtswv, nwgnuav thov koj txhawb kuv txhais teg tug zug.
¹⁰Kuv txawm moog rua huv Ntelaya tug tub Semaya lub tsev, nwg yog Mehethanpee tug xeeb ntxwv, nwg pheej nyob huv tsev xwb, mas Semaya has tas, “Ca ib moog sws ntswb rua huv Vaajtswv lub tuam tsev chaav kws pe Vaajtswv, hab ca ib muab qhov rooj tuam tsev kaw, tsua qhov puab yuav tuaj tua koj, thaus tsaus ntuj puab yuav tuaj tua koj pov tseg.” ¹¹Tassws kuv has tas, “Tuabneeg zoo le kuv yuav txaus tswv lov? Hab tuabneeg zoo le kuv yuav nkaag moog rua huv lub tuam tsev txhad cawm tau sav lov? Kuv tsw moog.” ¹²Mas kuv nkaag sab hab pum tas, tsw yog Vaajtswv khaiv nwg tuaj tassws yog nwg cev lug tawm tsaam kuv vem Thaunpia hab Xaanpala tau ndav nwg lawm. ¹³Ob tug ndav nwg tuaj xaav tas yuav ua rua kuv ntshai hab kuv yuav ua le hov txhad ua txhum muaj txem, mas puab txhad le coj tau kuv lub npe moog xyaav sub puab txhad thuaj luag tau kuv. ¹⁴Au kuv tug Vaajtswv, thov koj ncu txug Thaunpia hab Xaanpala lawv le tej kws ob tug ua nuav, hab ncu txug Nau‑antiya kws yog tug puj xwbfwb cev Vaajtswv lug hab lwm tug kws cev Vaajtswv lug kws xaav ua kuas kuv ntshai.
¹⁵Lub ntsaa loog txhad tav rua nub tim neeg nkaum tswb lub hli Elu,⚓ huvsw peb ua tswb caug ob nub. ¹⁶Thaus peb cov yeeb ncuab suavdawg tau nov, ib tsoom tebchaws kws nyob ib ncig peb kuj ntshai hab poob ntsej muag taag, tsua qhov puab pum tas tej num nuav ua tau tav vem yog muaj peb tug Vaajtswv paab peb. ¹⁷Dua le ntawd lub swjhawm ntawd cov kws ua hlub huv Yuta kuj xaa ntau tsaab ntawv moog rua Thaunpia, hab Thaunpia tej ntawv kuj tuaj txug puab. ¹⁸Tsua qhov cov Yuta muaj ntau leej nrug Thaunpia cog lug sws raug zoo vem nwg yog Alag tug tub Sekhaniya le vauv, hab nwg tug tub Yehauhanaa tau yuav Npelekhiya tug tub Mesulaa le ntxhais ua quaspuj. ¹⁹Puab has txug tej qhov zoo kws Thaunpia ua rua kuv noog hab coj kuv tej lug moog qha rua nwg. Mas Thaunpia xaa ntawv tuaj hem ua kuas kuv ntshai.

6

Further Opposition to the Rebuilding

¹When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates— ²Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages⚓ on the plain of Ono.”
But they were scheming to harm me; ³so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” ⁴Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.
⁵Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter ⁶in which was written:
“It is reported among the nations—and Geshem⚓ says it is true—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king ⁷and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us meet together.”
⁸I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”
⁹They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”
But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”
¹⁰One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.”
¹¹But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” ¹²I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.
¹⁴Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophet Noadiah and how she and the rest of the prophets have been trying to intimidate me. ¹⁵So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.

Opposition to the Completed Wall

¹⁶When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.
¹⁷Also, in those days the nobles of Judah were sending many letters to Tobiah, and replies from Tobiah kept coming to them. ¹⁸For many in Judah were under oath to him, since he was son-in-law to Shekaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah. ¹⁹Moreover, they kept reporting to me his good deeds and then telling him what I said. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.