< Nehemiah 6 >

1 Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and our other enemies heard [a report] that we had finished rebuilding the wall, and that now there were no more (gaps/places where the wall was not finished) (although we had not yet put the doors in the gates).
Forsothe it was doon, whanne Sanaballath hadde herd, and Tobie, and Gosem of Arabie, and oure other enemyes, that Y hadde bildide the wal, and nomore brekyng was therynne; sotheli `til to that tyme Y hadde not set leeuys of schittyng in the yatis;
2 So Sanballat and Geshem sent [a message] to me, in which they said “Come and talk with us at a place in Ono Plain [north of Jerusalem].” But [I knew that] really they wanted to harm me [if I went there].
Sanaballath, and Tobie, and Gosem of Arabie senten to me, and seiden, Come thou, and smyte we boond of pees in calues, `in o feeld; forsothe thei thouyten for to do yuel to me.
3 So I sent messengers to them, to tell them, “I am doing an important work, and I cannot go down [there]. (Why should I stop doing this work just to go down to [talk with] you?/I do not want to stop doing this work just to go down to [talk with] you.)” [RHQ]
Therfor Y sente messangeris to hem, and Y seide, Y make a greet werk, and Y mai not go doun, lest perauenture it be doon retchelesli, whanne Y come, and go doun to you.
4 They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
Sotheli thei senten to me `bi this word bi foure tymes, and Y answeride to hem by the formere word.
5 Then Sanballat sent one of his servants to me, bringing a fifth message. This one was written, but it was not sealed. [He did that in order that others would read the message that the servant was carrying] in his hand.
And Sanaballath sente to me the fyuethe tyme bi the formere word his child; and he hadde in his hond a pistle writun in this maner;
6 This is what was written in the message: “Some people in the nearby countries have heard a report that you and the other Jews are rebuilding the wall [in order to be able to resist attacks], because you are planning to revolt [against the king of Babylon]. And the report also says that you are planning to become the king [of the Israelis]. Geshem says that what they have reported is true.
It is herd among hethene men, and Gosem seide, that thou and the Jewis thenken for to rebelle, and therfor ye bilden, and thou wolt `reise thee king on hem;
7 [People are also saying that] you have appointed some prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem that you, [Nehemiah, ] are now the king in Judea. King [Artaxerxes] will certainly hear these reports, [and then you will be in big trouble]. So I suggest that we should meet together to talk about this matter.”
for which cause also thou hast set profetis, that prechen of thee in Jerusalem, and seien, A king is in Jerusalem; the king schal here these wordis; therfor come thou now, that we take counsel togidere.
8 [When I read that message, ] I sent [the messenger] back to Sanballat to say, “None of what you are saying is true. You have (made this up/concocted this) in your own head/mind.”
And Y sente to hem, and seide, It is not doon bi these wordis whiche thou spekist; for of thin herte thou makist these thingis.
9 [I said that because I knew that] they were trying to cause us to be afraid, with the result that we would stop working [on the wall]. So I actually became more determined (OR, I prayed to God to help me) [to continue the work].
Alle these men maden vs aferd, and thouyten that oure hondis schulden ceesse fro werkis, that we schulden reste; for which cause Y coumfortide more myn hond.
10 [One day] I went to talk with Shemaiah, son of Delaiah and grandson of Mehetabel. I went to talk with him in his house, because he was not able (OR, allowed) to leave his house. He said to me, “You and I must enter the very sacred place in the temple and lock the doors, because people are going to come to kill you at night.”
And Y entride priueli in to the hows of Samaie, sone of Dalie, the sone of Methabehel, which seide, Trete we with vs silf in the hows of God, in the myddis of the temple, and close we the yatis of the hows; for thei schulen come to sle thee, `and thei schulen come `bi niyt to sle thee.
11 I replied, “I (am not that kind of person/do not do things like that) [RHQ]! I would not run and hide in the temple to save my life! No, I will not do that!”
And Y seide, Whether ony man lijk me fledde, and who as Y schal entre in to the temple, and schal lyue?
12 When I thought [about what he had said], I realized that God had not told Shemaiah to say that to me. I realized that Tobiah and Sanballat had bribed him [to say that to me].
Y schal not entre. And Y vndurstood that God `hadde not sent hym, but `he spak as profesiynge to me; and Tobie and Sanaballath `hadden hirid hym for meede.
13 They had bribed him to cause me to be afraid. They wanted me to [disobey God’s commands and] sin [by hiding in the temple]. If I did that, they would be able to ruin my reputation [MTY] and discredit me.
For he hadde take prijs, that Y schulde be aferd, and do, and that Y schulde do synne; and thei schulden haue yuel, which thei schulden putte to me with schenschip.
14 [So I prayed, ] “My God, do not forget what Tobiah and Sanballat have done. Punish them. And do not forget that the female prophet Noadiah and some of the other prophets have also tried to cause me to be afraid.”
Lord, haue mynde of me, for Tobye and Sanaballath, bi siche werkis `of hem; but also of Noadie, the profete, and of othere profetis, that maden me aferd.
15 On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days.
Forsothe the wal was fillid in the fyue and twentithe dai of the monethe Ebul, in two and fifti daies.
16 When our enemies in the nearby countries heard about that, they realized that they had been humiliated, because everyone knew that it was because God helped us that we had been able to do this work [and that they had not been able to force us to quit].
Sotheli it was doon, whanne alle oure enemyes hadden herd, that alle hethene men dredden, that weren in oure cumpas, and thei felden doun with ynne hem silf, and wiste, that this work was maad of God.
17 During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages/letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them.
But also in tho daies many pistlis of the principal men of Jewis weren sent to Tobie, and camen fro Tobie to hem.
18 Many people in Judea were closely associated with Tobiah, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah. Furthermore, Tobiah’s son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berekiah.
For many men weren in Judee, and hadden his ooth; for he hadde weddid the douyter of Sechenye, the sone of Rotel; and Johannam, his sone, hadde take the douyter of Mosallam, sone of Barachie.
19 People often talked in my presence about all the good things that Tobiah had done, and then they would tell him everything that I said. So Tobiah sent many letters to me to try to cause me to become afraid.
But also thei preisiden hym bifor me, and telden my wordis to hym; and Tobie sente lettris, for to make me aferd.

< Nehemiah 6 >