Factum est autem, cum audisset Sanaballat, et Tobias, et Gossem Arabs, et ceteri inimici nostri, quod ædificassem ego murum, et non esset in ipso residua interruptio (usque ad tempus autem illud valvas non posueram in portis),

And it came to pass, when Sanaballat, and Tobias, and Gossem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, (though at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates,)

And now news reached Sanaballat and Tobias and the Arabian, Gosem, and the rest of our enemies, that I had finished building the wall, and never a gap was left in it; although in truth I had not yet been able to set up doors in the gateways.

miserunt Sanaballat et Gossem ad me, dicentes: Veni, et percutiamus fœdus pariter in viculis in campo Ono. Ipsi autem cogitabant ut facerent mihi malum.

Sanaballat and Gossem sent to me, saying: Come, and let us make a league together in the villages, in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.

Thereupon Sanaballat and Gosem sent a message proposing that I should meet them in some unfortified town on the plains of Ono, and there make a treaty; it was their design to do me some mischief.

Misi ergo ad eos nuntios, dicens: Opus grande ego facio, et non possum descendere, ne forte negligatur cum venero, et descendero ad vos.

And I sent messengers to them, saying: I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down, lest it be neglected whilst I come, and go down to you.

But I bade my own messengers answer, It is a hard task I must perform here; I am not for the plain. There would be folk standing idle here, while I came down to meet you.

Miserunt autem ad me secundum verbum hoc per quatuor vices: et respondi eis juxta sermonem priorem.

And they sent to me according to this word, four times: and I answered them after the same manner.

Four times they sent word to the same purpose, and ever had the same answer from me;

Et misit ad me Sanaballat juxta verbum prius quinta vice puerum suum, et epistolam habebat in manu sua scriptam hoc modo:

And Sanaballat sent his servant to me the fifth time according to the former word, and he had a letter in his hand written in this manner:

and once more Sanaballat repeated it, but this time the servant who brought it had a letter in his hand. And this was the tenour of it:

In gentibus auditum est, et Gossem dixit, quod tu et Judæi cogitetis rebellare, et propterea ædifices murum, et levare te velis super eos regem: propter quam causam

It is reported amongst the Gentiles, and Gossem hath said it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel, and therefore thou buildest the wall, and hast a mind to set thyself king over them: for which end

The Gentiles will have it, and Gosem says the tale is true, that thou and the Jews are rebuilding the walls because you are plotting rebellion. It is said that thou wouldst be king thyself, and to that end

et prophetas posueris, qui prædicent de te in Jerusalem, dicentes: Rex in Judæa est. Auditurus est rex verba hæc: idcirco nunc veni, ut ineamus consilium pariter.

Thou hast also set up prophets, to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying: There is a king in Judea. The king will hear of these things: therefore come now, that we may take counsel together.

hast put forward prophets to preach thee up in Jerusalem, and announce that Juda has a king. All this will reach the ears of Artaxerxes; come hither thou must, and we will devise measures between us.

Et misi ad eos, dicens: Non est factum secundum verba hæc, quæ tu loqueris: de corde enim tuo tu componis hæc.

And I sent to them, saying: There is no such thing done as thou sayest: but thou feignest these things out of thy own heart.

But I sent word back, There is no truth in the tale; it is of thy own imagining.

Omnes enim hi terrebant nos, cogitantes quod cessarent manus nostræ ab opere, et quiesceremus: quam ob causam magis confortavi manus meas.

For all these men thought to frighten us, thinking that our hands would cease from the work, and that we would leave off. Wherefore I strengthened my hands the more:

It was but a conspiracy to frighten us; their thought was we would cease building, and bide our time; but I pressed on the harder.

Et ingressus sum domum Semaiæ filii Dalaiæ filii Metabeel secreto. Qui ait: Tractemus nobiscum in domo Dei in medio templi, et claudamus portas ædis: quia venturi sunt ut interficiant te, et nocte venturi sunt ad occidendum te.

And I went into the house of Samaia the son of Delaia, the son of Metabeel privately. And he said: Let us consult together in the house of God in the midst of the temple: and let us shut the doors of the temple, for they will come to kill thee, and in the night they will come to slay thee.

I went once to visit Semaias, son of Dalaias, son of Metabeel; he was then keeping his house. Nay, said he, let us go to the temple and there hold converse, there in the heart of the temple, behind shut doors. They are coming to murder thee; this very night they are coming to murder thee.

Et dixi: Num quisquam similis mei fugit? et quis ut ego ingredietur templum, et vivet? non ingrediar.

And I said: Should such a man as I flee? and who is there that being as I am, would go into the temple, to save his life? I will not go in.

What, I answered, I take flight? I am not the man to save my life by skulking in God’s house. The temple is not for me.

Et intellexi quod Deus non misisset eum, sed quasi vaticinans locutus esset ad me, et Tobias et Sanaballat conduxissent eum.

And I understood that God had not sent him, but that he had spoken to me as if he had been prophesying, and Tobias, and Sanaballat had hired him.

And well I knew that his was no errand from God, though he spoke to me as one inspired to prophesy. It was Tobias and Sanaballat that had him in their pay;

Acceperat enim pretium, ut territus facerem, et peccarem, et haberent malum quod exprobrarent mihi.

For he had taken money, that I being afraid should do this thing, and sin, and they might have some evil to upbraid me withal.

they had bribed him, hoping that through terror I would commit a fault, and they would have ill tales to spread about me.

Memento mei, Domine, pro Tobia et Sanaballat, juxta opera eorum talia: sed et Noadiæ prophetæ, et ceterorum prophetarum, qui terrebant me.

Remember me, O Lord, for Tobias and Sanaballat, according to their works of this kind: and Noadias the prophet, and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear.

Not unremembered, Lord, be all this that I suffered on account of Tobias and Sanaballat; of the prophet Noadia, too, and all those prophets that would have daunted me!

Completus est autem murus vigesimo quinto die mensis Elul, quinquaginta duobus diebus.

But the wall was finished the five and twentieth day of the month of Elul, in two and fifty days.

The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul; it had taken fifty-two days a-building.

Factum est ergo cum audissent omnes inimici nostri, ut timerent universæ gentes quæ erant in circuitu nostro, et conciderent intra semetipsos, et scirent quod a Deo factum esset opus hoc.

And it came to pass when all our enemies heard of it, that all nations which were round about us, were afraid, and were cast down within themselves, for they perceived that this work was the work of God.

And when this reached the ears of our enemies, fear overtook all the nations round about us; their stature fell in their own eyes, and they doubted no longer that it was God who had inspired the enterprise.

Sed et in diebus illis multæ optimatum Judæorum epistolæ mittebantur ad Tobiam, et a Tobia veniebant ad eos.

Moreover in those days many letters were sent by the principal men of the Jews to Tobias, and from Tobias there came letters to them.

Tobias, at this time, was exchanging letters with many of the Jewish nobles;

Multi enim erant in Judæa habentes juramentum ejus, quia gener erat Secheniæ filii Area, et Johanan filius ejus acceperat filiam Mosollam filii Barachiæ:

For there were many in Judea sworn to him, because he was the son in law of Sechenias the son of Area, and Johanan his son had taken to wife the daughter of Mosollam the son of Barachias.

he had married the daughter of Sechenias, son of Area, and wedded his son Johanan to the daughter of Mosollam, son of Barachias, and so had a great following in Judaea.

sed et laudabant eum coram me, et verba mea nuntiabant ei: et Tobias mittebat epistolas ut terreret me.

And they praised him also before me, and they related my words to him: And Tobias sent letters to put me in fear.

Still they sang his praises to me, still sent him news of all I did; this very Tobias who was writing letters to fill me with alarm.