1 WYC 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; BSB BSB: When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—
2 WYC 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. BSB BSB: Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.
3 WYC 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. BSB BSB: So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to go down to you?”
4 WYC Sotheli thei senten to me `bi this word bi foure tymes, and Y answeride to hem by the formere word. BSB BSB: Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.
5 WYC 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; BSB BSB: The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter
6 WYC 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; BSB BSB: that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,
7 WYC 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. BSB BSB: and you have even appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: ‘There is a king in Judah.’ Soon these rumors will reach the ears of the king. So come, let us confer together.”
8 WYC 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. BSB BSB: Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”
9 WYC 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. BSB BSB: For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen my hands.
10 WYC 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. BSB BSB: Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said: “Let us meet at the house of God inside the temple. Let us shut the temple doors because they are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you!”
11 WYC And Y seide, Whether ony man lijk me fledde, and who as Y schal entre in to the temple, and schal lyue? BSB BSB: But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Should one like me go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go!”
12 WYC 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. BSB BSB: I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
13 WYC 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. BSB BSB: He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me.
14 WYC 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. BSB BSB: O my God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who tried to intimidate me.
15 WYC Forsothe the wal was fillid in the fyue and twentithe dai of the monethe Ebul, in two and fifti daies. BSB BSB: So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.
16 WYC 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. BSB BSB: When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and disheartened, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.
17 WYC But also in tho daies many pistlis of the principal men of Jewis weren sent to Tobie, and camen fro Tobie to hem. BSB BSB: Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters kept coming to them.
18 WYC 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. BSB BSB: For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.
19 WYC But also thei preisiden hym bifor me, and telden my wordis to hym; and Tobie sente lettris, for to make me aferd. BSB BSB: Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.