¹But it happened that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

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

²He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”

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?"

³Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.”

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!"

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

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!

⁵don’t cover their iniquity, and don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”

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

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

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

⁷But it happened that when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, then they were very angry;

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,

⁸and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein.

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

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

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

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

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

¹¹Our adversaries said, “They shall not know, neither see, until we come into their midst, and kill them, and cause the work to cease.”

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!

¹²It happened that when the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

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,

¹³Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

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;

¹⁴I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

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!

¹⁵It happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, that we returned all of us to the wall, everyone to his work.

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.

¹⁶It happened from that time forth, that half of my servants worked in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

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,

¹⁷They all built the wall and those who bore burdens loaded themselves; everyone with one of his hands worked in the work, and with the other held his weapon;

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

¹⁸and the builders, everyone wore his sword at his side, and so built. He who sounded the trumpet was by me.

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

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

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;

²⁰Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally there to us. Our God will fight for us.”

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

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

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

²²Likewise at the same time said I to the people, “Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day.”

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!"

²³So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes. Everyone took his weapon to the water.

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.