¹Men da Sanballat hørte, at vi byggede på Muren, blev han vred og harmfuld; og han spottede Jøderne

¹And it cometh to pass, when Sanballat hath heard that we are building the wall, that it is displeasing to him, and he is very angry and mocketh at the Jews,

²og sagde i Påhør af sine Brødre og Samarias Krigsfolk: "Hvad er det, disse usle Jøder har for? Vil de overlade Gud det? Vil de ofre? Kan de gøre det færdigt endnu i Dag? Kan de kalde Stenene i disse Grusdynger til Live, når de er forbrændt?"

²and saith before his brethren and the force of Samaria, yea, he saith, `What [are] the weak Jews doing? are they left to themselves? do they sacrifice? do they complete in a day? do they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish? — and they burnt!`

³Og Ammoniten Tobija, der stod ved siden af ham, sagde: "Lad dem bygge, så meget de vil; en Ræv kan rive deres Stenmur ned, blot den springer derop!"

³And Tobiah the Ammonite [is] by him and saith, `Also, that which they are building — if a fox doth go up, then it hath broken down their stone wall.`

⁴Hør, vor Gud, hvorledes vi er blevet hånet! Lad deres Spot falde tilbage på deres eget Hoved, og lad dem blive hånet som Fanger i et Fremmed Land!

⁴Hear, O our God, for we have been despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, and give them for a spoil in a land of captivity;

⁵Skjul ikke deres Brøde og lad ikke deres Synd blive udslettet for dit Åsyn, thi med deres Ord krænkede de dem, der byggede!

⁵and do not cover over their iniquity, and their sin from before Thee let not be blotted out, for they have provoked to anger — over-against those building.

⁶Men vi byggede på Muren, og hele Muren blev bygget færdig i halv Højde, og Folket arbejdede med god Vilje.

⁶And we build the wall, and all the wall is joined — unto its half, and the people have a heart to work.

⁷Da nu Sanballat og Tobija og Araberne, Ammoniterne og Asdoditerne børte, at det skred fremad med Istandsættelsen af Jerusalems Mure, og at Hullerne i Muren begyndte at lukkes, blev de meget vrede,

⁷And it cometh to pass, when Sanballat hath heard, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, that lengthening hath gone up to the walls of Jerusalem, that the breeches have begun to be stopped, then it is very displeasing to them,

⁸og de sammensvor sig alle om at drage hen og angribe Jerusalem og fremkalde Forvirring der.

⁸and they conspire, all of them together, to come in to fight against Jerusalem, and to do to it injury.

⁹Da bad vi til vor Gud og satte Vagt både Dag og Naf for at værne os imod dem.

⁹And we pray unto our God, and appoint a watch against them, by day and by night, because of them.

¹⁰Men Jøderne sagde: Lastdragernes Kræfter svigter, og Grusdyngerne er for store; vi kan ikke bygge på Muren!

¹⁰And Judah saith, `The power of the burden-bearers hath become feeble, and the rubbish [is] abundant, and we are not able to build on the wall.`

¹¹Og vore Fjender sagde: De må ikke mærke noget, før vi står midt iblandt dem og hugger dem ned og således får Arbejdet til at gå i Stå!

¹¹And our adversaries say, `They do not know, nor see, till that we come in to their midst, and have slain them, and caused the work to cease.`

¹²Da nu de Jøder, der boede dem nærmest, Gang på Gang kom og lod os vide, at de rykkede op imod os fra alle Steder, hvor de boede,

¹²And it cometh to pass, when the Jews have come who are dwelling near them, that they say to us ten times from all the places whither ye return — [they are] against us.

¹³og da Folkene kun turde stille sig op på Steder, der lå lavere end Pladsen bag Muren, i Kælderrum, så opstillede jeg Folket Slægt for Slægt, væbnet med Sværd, Spyd og Buer;

¹³And I appoint at the lowest of the places, at the back of the wall, in the clear places, yea, I appoint the people, by their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

¹⁴og da jeg så det, trådte jeg frem og sagde til Stormændene og Forstanderne og det øvrige Folk: Frygt ikke for dem! Kom den store, frygtelige Gud i Hu og kæmp for eders Brødre, Sønner og Døtre, eders Hustruer og Huse!

¹⁴And I see, and rise up, and say unto the freemen, and unto the prefects, and unto the rest of the people, `Be not afraid of them; the Lord, the great and the fearful, remember ye, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.`

¹⁵Men da vore Fjender hørte, at vi havde fået det at vide, og at Gud gjorde deres Råd til intet, vendte vi alle tilbage til Muren, hver til sit Arbejde.

¹⁵And it cometh to pass, when our enemies have heard that it hath been known to us, and God doth frustrate their counsel, and we turn back, all of us, unto the wall, each unto his work;

¹⁶Men fra den Tid af arbejdede kun den ene Halvdel af mine Folk, medens den anden Halvdel stod væbnet med Spyd, Skjolde, Buer og Brynjer; og Øversterne stod bag ved alle de Jøder,

¹⁶yea, it cometh to pass, from that day, half of my servants are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the heads [are] behind all the house of Judah.

¹⁷der byggede på Muren. Også Lastdragerne var væbnet; med den ene Hånd arbejdede de, og med den anden.holdt de Spydet;

¹⁷The builders on the wall, and the bearers of the burden, those lading, [each] with one of his hands is working in the business, and one is laying hold of the missile.

¹⁸og de, der byggede, havde under Arbejdet hver sit Sværd bundet til Lænden. Ved Siden af mig stod Hornblæseren;

¹⁸And the builders [are] each with his sword, girded on his loins, and building, and he who is blowing with a trumpet [is] beside me.

¹⁹og jeg sagde til de store og Forstanderne og det øvrige Folk: "Arbejdet er stort og omfattende, og vi er spredt på Muren langt fra hverandre;

¹⁹And I say unto the freemen, and unto the prefects, and unto the rest of the people, `The work is abundant, and large, and we are separated on the wall, far off one from another;

²⁰hvor l nu hører Hornet gjalde, skal l samles om os; vor Gud vil stride for os!

²⁰in the place that ye hear the voice of the trumpet thither ye are gathered unto us; our God doth fight for us.`

²¹Således udførte vi Arbejdet, idet Halvdelen af os holdt Spydene rede fra Morgengry til Stjernernes Opgang.

²¹And we are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of the spears, from the going up of the dawn till the coming forth of the stars.

²²Samtidig sagde jeg også til Folket: Enhver skal sammen med sin Dreng overnatte i Jerusalem, for at vi kan have dem til Vagt om Natten og til Arbejde om Dagen!"

²²Also, at that time I said to the people, `Let each with his servant lodge in the midst of Jerusalem, and they have been to us by night a guard, and by day [for] the work:`

²³Og hverken jeg eller mine Brødre eller mine Folk eller Vagten, der fulgte mig, afførte os vore Klæder, og enhver, der blev sendt efter Vand, havde Spydet med.

²³and there are none — I and my brethren and my servants, the men of the guard who [are] after me — there are none of us putting off our garments, each [hath] his vessel of water.