¹Zvino Sanibharati, naTobhia, naGeshemu muArabhia, navamwe vavengi vedu vakati vaudzwa kuti ndavaka rusvingo, uye kuti takanga tisinokusiya pakakoromoka; (kunyange kusvikira panguva iyo ndakanga ndichigere kutimika magonhi pamasuwo;)

¹And it cometh to pass, when it hath been heard by Sanballat, and Tobiah, and by Geshem the Arabian, and by the rest of our enemies, that I have builded the wall, and there hath not been left in it a breach, (also, till that time the doors I had not set up in the gates,)

²Sanibharati naGeshemu ndokutuma shoko kwandiri, vachiti, Uyai, tisangane panomumwe musha pabani reOno. Asi vakanga vachida kundiitira zvakaipa.

²that Sanballat sendeth, also Geshem, unto me, saying, `Come and we meet together in the villages, in the valley of Ono;` and they are thinking to do to me evil.

³Ini ndikatuma nhume kwavari, ndichiti, Ndinobata basa guru, saka handigoni kuburuka; basa ringamirireiko, kana ndikarega ndichiburukira kwamuri?

³And I send unto them messengers, saying, `A great work I am doing, and I am not able to come down; why doth the work cease when I let it alone, and have come down unto you?`

⁴Vakatumira kwandiri saizvozvo kana, ndikavapindurazve saizvozvo.

⁴and they send unto me, according to this word, four times, and I return them [word] according to this word.

⁵Ipapo Sanibharati wakatumazve muranda wake kwandiri saizvozvo rwechishanu, akabata tsamba yakazaruka muruoko rwake;

⁵And Sanballat sendeth unto me, according to this word, a fifth time, his servant, and an open letter in his hand;

⁶imomo makanga makanyorwa, muchiti, Zvinonzi pakati pendudzi, naGeshemu unodarowo, kuti iwe navaJudha munoda kumukira mambo; nemhaka iyo iwe unovaka rusvingo urwo, newe unoda kuva mambo wavo, ndiwo mashoko avo.

⁶it is written in it, `Among the nations it hath been heard, and Gashmu is saying: Thou and the Jews are thinking to rebel, therefore thou art building the wall, and thou hast been to them for a king — according to these words!

⁷Uye, kuti iwe wakagadza vaporofita vanoparidza pamusoro pako paJerusaremu, vachiti, Pakati paJudha pana mambo. Naizvozvo zvino chiuya, tirangane tose.

⁷And also, prophets thou hast appointed to call for thee in Jerusalem, saying, A king [is] in Judah, and now it is heard by the king according to these words; and now come, and we take counsel together.`

⁸Ipapo ndakatuma shoko kwaari, ndikati, Hapaitwi zvinhu zvakadai zvaunotaura, asi wakangozvifunga hako mumoyo mako.

⁸And I send unto him, saying, `It hath not been according to these words that thou art saying, for from thine own heart thou art devising them;`

⁹nekuti vose vakanga vachitsvaka kutityisa, vachiti, Maoko avo ngaashaiwe simba pabasa, kuti rirege kupedzwa. Asi zvino, Mwari simbisai maoko angu.

⁹for all of them are making us afraid, saying, `Their hands are too feeble for the work, and it is not done;` and now, strengthen Thou my hands.

¹⁰Ipapo ndakaenda kumba kwaShemaya mwanakomana waDheraya, mwanakomana waMehetabheri, akanga azvipfigira, iye akati, Ngatisangane mumba maMwari, mukati metemberi, tipfige mikova yetemberi; nekuti vachauya kuzokuuraya; vachauya usiku kuzokuuraya.

¹⁰And I have entered the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabeel — and he is restrained — and he saith, `Let us meet at the house of God, at the inside of the temple, and we shut the doors of the temple, for they are coming in to slay thee — yea, by night they are coming in to slay thee.`

¹¹Ini ndakati, Munhu akaita seni ungatiza here? Ndianiko akaita seni angapinda mutemberi, kuti azviraramise? Handingapindi.

¹¹And I say, `A man such as I — doth he flee? and who as I, that doth go in unto the temple, and live? — I do not go in.`

¹²Ndikaona kwazvo kuti Mwari akanga asina kumutuma; asi akandiporofitira izvozvo, nekuti akanga afufurwa naTobhia naSanibharati.

¹²And I discern, and lo, God hath not sent him, for in the prophecy he hath spoken unto me both Tobiah and Sanballat hired him,

¹³Akanga afufurwa nemhaka iyo, kuti nditye, ndiite saizvozvo, nditadze, kuti vawane chavangandichera nacho, vagondishora.

¹³so that he [is] an hireling, that I may fear and do so, and I had sinned, and it had been to them for an evil name that they may reproach me.

¹⁴Rangarirai henyu, Mwari wangu, mabasa awa aTobhia naSanibharati, naNowadhia muporofitakadzi, navamwe vaporofita, vakaidza kundityisa.

¹⁴Be mindful, O my God, of Tobiah, and of Sanballat, according to these his works, and also, of Noadiah the prophetess, and of the rest of the prophets who have been making me afraid.

¹⁵Naizvozvo rusvingo rwakapera pazuva ramakumi maviri namashanu romwedzi weEruri, tavaka mazuva ana makumi mashanu namaviri.

¹⁵And the wall is completed in the twenty and fifth of Elul, on the fifty and second day;

¹⁶Zvino vavengi vedu vose vakati vachizvinzwa, vahedheni vose vakanga vakatipotoredza vakatya, vakaora moyo, nekuti vakaziva kuti basa iri rakaitwa naMwari wedu.

¹⁶and it cometh to pass, when all our enemies have heard, and all the nations who are round about us see, that they fall greatly in their own eyes, and know that by our God hath this work been done.

¹⁷Uye, namazuva iwayo vakuru vavaJudha vakatumawo tsamba zhinji kuna Tobhia, uye tsamba dzaTobhia dzakasvikawo kwavari.

¹⁷Also, in those days the freemen of Judah are multiplying their letters going unto Tobiah, and those of Tobiah are coming in unto them;

¹⁸Nekuti vazhinji vaivapo paJudha vakanga vapika kwaari, nekuti waiva mukwambo waShekania mwanakomana waAra; mwanakomana wake Jehohanani akanga awana mukunda waMeshurami mwanakomana waBherekia.

¹⁸for many in Judah are sworn to him, for he [is] son-in-law to Shechaniah son of Arah, and Jehohanan his son hath taken the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah;

¹⁹Vakarumbidzawo mabasa ake akanaka pamberi pangu, nokumuudza mashoko angu. Tobhia akatuma tsamba dzokundityisa.

¹⁹also, his good deeds they have been saying before me, and my words they have been taking out to him; letters hath Tobiah sent to make me afraid.