NEH 6:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) So I sent messengers back to them, “This work is important and extensive, so I can’t afford to abandon it and have the work stop if I travelled down to you on the plain.”

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrTr So I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, and I shall not be able to come down, lest the work should cease: as soon as I shall have finished it, I will come down to you.

ULT And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, and I am not able to go down. Why should the work stop while I abandon it and go down to you?”

UST So I sent messengers to tell them, “The work I am doing here is very important. I am not able to travel while it is going on. There is no reason for me to stop the work and leave it so that I can meet with you.”

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?”

OEB So I sent messengers to them, saying, ’I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should the work cease, while I leave it and come down to you?’

WEBBE I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I can’t come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET So I sent messengers to them saying, “I am engaged in an important work, and I am unable to come down. Why should the work come to a halt when I leave it to come down to you?”

LSV And I send to them messengers, saying, “A great work I am doing, and I am not able to come down; why does the work cease when I let it alone, and have come down to you?”

FBV So I sent messengers to tell them, “I'm busy with important work and I can't come down. Why should I stop what I'm doing and leave it to come and see you?”

T4T 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]

LEB No LEB NEH book available

BBE And I sent men to them saying, I am doing a great work, so that it is not possible for me to come down: is the work to be stopped while I go away from it and come down to you?

Moff No Moff NEH book available

JPS And I sent messengers unto them, saying: 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?'

ASV And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

DRA 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.

YLT And 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?'

Drby And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it and come down to you?

RV And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
(And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: Why should the work cease, whilst/while I leave it, and come down to you? )

SLT And I shall send messengers to them, saying, I do a great work, and I shall not be able to come down: wherefore shall the work cease when I shall desist and come down to you?

Wbstr And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

KJB-1769 And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
(And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst/while I leave it, and come down to you? )

KJB-1611 And I sent messengers vnto them, saying, I am doing a great worke, so that I can not come down: why should the worke cease, whilest I leaue it, and come downe to you?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps No Bshps NEH book available

Gnva Therefore I sent messengers vnto them, saying, I haue a great worke to doe, and I can not come downe: why should the worke cease, whiles I leaue it, and come downe to you?
(Therefore I sent messengers unto them, saying, I have a great work to do, and I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst/while I leave it, and come down to you? )

Cvdl No Cvdl NEH book available

Wycl No Wycl NEH book available

Luth No Luth NEH book available

ClVg Misi ergo ad eos nuntios, dicens: Opus grande ego facio, et non possum descendere, ne forte negligatur cum venero, et descendero ad vos.
(Misi therefore to them messengers, saying: Opus grande I facio, and not/no I_can descendere, not perhaps negligatur when/with venero, and descendero to you. )

RP-GNT No RP-GNT NEH book available

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

מְלָאכָ֤ה גְדוֹלָה֙ אֲנִ֣י עֹשֶׂ֔ה

work great I producing

Nehemiah is once again using himself to represent the whole community and its work of rebuilding of the wall. Alternate translation: [We are doing a great work]

וְ⁠לֹ֥א אוּכַ֖ל לָ⁠רֶ֑דֶת

and=not able to,come_down

Nehemiah does not mean that he is physically unable to travel to Ono. He means that he cannot leave his supervision of the work for the several days it would take to travel there and back. Alternate translation: [I am not able to travel while it is going on]

לָ⁠רֶ֑דֶת

to,come_down

Nehemiah uses the word down because the plain of Ono is at a lower elevation than Jerusalem. Alternate translation: [meet with you]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

לָ֣⁠מָּה תִשְׁבַּ֤ת הַ⁠מְּלָאכָה֙ כַּ⁠אֲשֶׁ֣ר אַרְפֶּ֔⁠הָ וְ⁠יָרַדְתִּ֖י אֲלֵי⁠כֶֽם

to/for=what stop the,work just=as leave,it and,come_down to,you_all

Nehemiah is making a statement, not asking a question. He does not expect Sanballat and Geshem to give him reasons why the work should stop as he travels to meet with them. Instead, Nehemiah is using the question form to emphasize how important it is for the work of rebuilding the walls to continue. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate his question as a statement. Alternate translation: [I cannot let the work stop and come down to you]

וְ⁠יָרַדְתִּ֖י אֲלֵי⁠כֶֽם

and,come_down to,you_all

The word down is used here because the plain of Ono where they were requesting Nehemiah to come is at a lower elevation than Jerusalem.

Parallel NEH 6:3