¹But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

¹Ketika Sanbalat mendengar bahwa kami orang Yahudi sedang memperbaiki tembok kota, ia menjadi marah sekali dan mulai mengejek kami.

²And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

²Di depan rekan-rekannya dan tentara Samaria, ia berkata, "Apa yang sedang dikerjakan orang Yahudi celaka yang tidak bisa apa-apa itu? Apakah mereka mau membangun kembali kota ini? Sangka mereka pekerjaan itu dapat selesai dalam sehari, hanya dengan mempersembahkan kurban? Apakah timbunan sampah yang sudah hangus itu bisa mereka jadikan batu-batu tembok?"

³Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.

³Lalu Tobia yang berdiri di sampingnya berkata juga, "Lihat tembok yang mereka bangun! Anjing hutan pun bisa merobohkannya!"

⁴Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:

⁴Maka berdoalah aku, "Ya Allah, dengarlah bagaimana kami dihina! Timpakanlah penghinaan itu ke atas kepala mereka sendiri. Biarlah segala milik mereka dirampok dan mereka sendiri diangkut sebagai tawanan ke negeri asing.

⁵And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.

⁵Jangan mengampuni kejahatan mereka dan jangan melupakan dosa mereka, sebab mereka telah menghina kami yang sedang membangun ini."

⁶So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

⁶Sementara itu kami terus memperbaiki tembok itu, dan tak lama kemudian seluruh tembok itu selesai diperbaiki sampai setengah tinggi, sebab rakyat bekerja dengan penuh semangat.

⁷But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,

⁷Ketika Sanbalat, Tobia dan orang-orang dari Amon dan Asdod serta orang-orang Arab mendengar bahwa perbaikan tembok Yerusalem itu makin maju dan bahwa lubang-lubang di tembok sudah mulai ditutup, mereka menjadi marah sekali.

⁸And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

⁸Mereka bersepakat hendak menyerang Yerusalem untuk menimbulkan kekacauan.

⁹Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

⁹Karena itu kami berdoa kepada Allah kami dan menjaga kota itu siang dan malam.

¹⁰And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.

¹⁰Tetapi orang Yehuda mulai menyanyikan lagu keluhan ini: "Tenaga kita habis untuk mengangkut muatan, sedangkan sampah masih banyak bertumpukan. Tak sanggup rasanya kita bekerja begini membangun tembok kota ini."

¹¹And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.

¹¹Sementara itu musuh kami merencanakan untuk menyerang kami secara tiba-tiba, lalu membunuh kami sehingga pekerjaan kami terhenti.

¹²And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you.

¹²Tetapi orang Yahudi yang tinggal di dekat mereka, berkali-kali datang kepada kami untuk memberitahukan rencana musuh itu.

¹³Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

¹³Sebab itu aku membagi-bagikan pedang, tombak dan panah kepada rakyat, lalu kutempatkan mereka menurut kaumnya masing-masing di belakang tembok, di tempat-tempat yang belum selesai diperbaiki.

¹⁴And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

¹⁴Ketika kulihat bahwa rakyat takut, aku berkata kepada mereka dan kepada para pemuka serta para pemimpin, "Jangan takut kepada musuh! Ingatlah kepada Tuhan yang kuat dan dahsyat, dan berjuanglah untuk saudara-saudaramu, anak-anak, istri dan rumahmu!"

¹⁵And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.

¹⁵Musuh-musuh kami mendengar bahwa rencana mereka telah kami ketahui. Maka sadarlah mereka bahwa Allah telah menggagalkan rencana mereka itu. Kemudian kami semua kembali bekerja memperbaiki tembok itu.

¹⁶And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

¹⁶Tetapi sejak hari itu hanya setengah dari anak buahku yang bekerja, sedangkan yang setengah lagi berjaga-jaga dengan berpakaian baju perang dan bersenjatakan tombak, perisai dan panah. Para pemimpin rakyat memberikan dukungan sepenuhnya kepada rakyat

¹⁷They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.

¹⁷yang sedang memperbaiki tembok itu. Para pemikul bahan bangunan melakukan pekerjaan itu dengan satu tangan, sedangkan tangan yang lain memegang senjata.

¹⁸For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.

¹⁸Tukang-tukang batu bekerja dengan pedang terikat di pinggang. Peniup trompet tanda bahaya, terus ada di sampingku.

¹⁹And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.

¹⁹Lalu aku berkata kepada rakyat, para pemuka dan para pemimpin, "Pekerjaan ini telah meluas sampai jarak yang jauh, sehingga kita terpencar-pencar di sepanjang tembok ini, seorang jauh daripada yang lain.

²⁰In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.

²⁰Jadi, kalau kalian mendengar bunyi trompet, berkumpullah segera di sekeliling kami di sini. Allah kita akan berperang untuk kita."

²¹So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.

²¹Demikianlah kami bekerja mulai dari subuh sampai bintang-bintang nampak di langit. Setengah dari rakyat memperbaiki tembok, sedangkan yang lain berjaga-jaga dengan tombak di tangan.

²²Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day.

²²Selama masa itu semua petugas dengan pembantu mereka, kusuruh bermalam di Yerusalem. Dengan demikian pada malam hari kami dapat menjaga kota dan siangnya membangun temboknya.

²³So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.

²³Aku sendiri, rekan-rekanku, anak buahku dan pengawal-pengawalku selalu berpakaian kerja, baik siang maupun malam. Kami terus-menerus dalam keadaan siap siaga, dengan senjata di tangan.