< Nehemiah 2 >

1 Artaxerxes manghai kah kum kul nah Nisan hla vaengah tah a mikhmuh ah misurtui om. Te dongah misurtui te ka pom tih manghai te ka doe. Tedae a mikhmuh ah a thae la ka om pawh.
And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never before been sad when the king was present.
2 Te vaengah manghai loh kai te, “Balae tih na maelhmai a thae? Nang pawt nim? Na tlo pawt nim te? Lungbuei thaenah bueng he khaw bahoeng ka rhih aih,” a ti.
And the king said to me, Why is your face sad, seeing that you are not ill? this is nothing but sorrow of heart. Then I was full of fear;
3 Tedae manghai te, “Manghai tah kumhal duela hing saeh, balae tih ka maelhmai a thae pawt eh? A pa rhoek kah phuel im khopuei loh kaksap tih a vongka khaw hmai loh a hlawp coeng,” ka ti nah.
And said to the king, May the king be living for ever: is it not natural for my face to be sad, when the town, the place where the bodies of my fathers are at rest, has been made waste and its doorways burned with fire?
4 Te vaengah manghai loh kai taengah, “Balae nan dawt, vaan Pathen taengah ka thangthui ngawn ta,” a ti.
Then the king said to me, What is your desire? So I made prayer to the God of heaven.
5 Te vaengah manghai te, “Manghai taengah then mai tih na sal he na mikhmuh ah a thuem atah kai he Judah ah a pa rhoek kah phuel kho la n'tueih lamtah ka thoh mai eh,” ka ti nah.
And I said to the king, If it is the king's pleasure, and if your servant has your approval, send me to Judah, to the town where the bodies of my fathers are at rest, so that I may take in hand the building of it.
6 Te phoeiah manghai neh a taengah aka ngol manghainu loh kai taengah, “Na caehlong te me hil nim a koe vetih me vaengah lae na mael eh?” a ti. Manghai mik ah a voelphoeng dongah kai n'tueih tih a tuetang te ka paek.
And the king said to me (the queen being seated by his side), How long will your journey take, and when will you come back? So the king was pleased to send me, and I gave him a fixed time.
7 Te dongah manghai te, “Manghai taengah a then mai atah, Tuiva rhalvangan kah rhalboei rhoek ham kamah taengah ca m'paek pah. Te te ka poeng tih Judah ah ka pawk vaengkah hil ham om saeh.
Further, I said to the king, If it is the king's pleasure, let letters be given to me for the rulers across the river, so that they may let me go through till I come to Judah;
8 Khotu aka tawt Asaph taengkah ca dongah manghai ham daek pah lamtah im taengkah rhalmah im, vongka mak vaengkah ham khaw, khopuei vongtung ham, im ham khaw a khuiah ka kun bangla, kai taengah thing m'pae saeh,” ka ti nah. Ka Pathen kah kut he kai soah a then dongah manghai loh kai taengah m'paek.
And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's park, so that he may give me wood to make boards for the doors of the tower of the house, and for the wall of the town, and for the house which is to be mine. And the king gave me this, for the hand of my God was on me.
9 Te dongah tuiva rhalvangan kah rhalboei rhoek taengah ka cet tih manghai kah ca te amih taengah ka paek. Te dongah manghai loh kai taengah tatthai mangpa rhoek neh marhang caem te han tueih.
Then I came to the rulers of the lands across the river and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.
10 Te vaengah Khoroni Sanballat neh Ammoni sal Tobiah loh a yaak. Israel ca rhoek kah hnothen tlap pah ham hlang a pawk te boethae duet la amih taengah thae a huet.
And Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, hearing of it, were greatly troubled because a man had come to the help of the children of Israel.
11 Te phoeiah Jerusalem la ka pawk vaengah hnin thum pahoi ka om.
So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
12 Tedae khoyin ah kamah neh ka taengkah hlang sii rhoek te ka thoh puei. Ka Pathen loh Jerusalem ah saii ham ka lungbuei ah a khueh te hlang taengah ka doek moenih. Te vaengah a soah ka ngol nah rhamsa bueng phoeiah tah kai taengah rhamsa a om moenih.
And in the night I got up, taking with me a small band of men; I said nothing to any man of what God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem: and I had no beast with me but the one on which I was seated.
13 Khoyin ah kolrhawk vongka longah ka cet tih maetangsih hmai la, natva vongka hmaila ka pawk. Ka om vaengah Jerusalem vongtung aka bung aka bung neh hmai loh a dom a vongka te ka hil.
And I went out by night, through the doorway of the valley, and past the dragon's water-spring as far as the place where waste material was put, viewing the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and the doorways which had been burned with fire.
14 Te phoeiah tuiphuet vongka neh manghai tuibuem la ka kat dae kamah neh aka kat rhamsa ham hmuen om pawh.
Then I went on to the door of the fountain and to the king's pool: but there was no room for my beast to get through.
15 Hlaem ah soklong la ka cet tih vongtung te ka hil. Te phoeiah kolrhawk vongka longah ka pawk tih ka mael.
Then in the night, I went up by the stream, viewing the wall; then turning back, I went in by the door in the valley, and so came back.
16 Tedae ukkung rhoek loh mela ka caeh tih mebang ka saii khaw a ming uh moenih. Bitat aka saii kah a hmatoeng te Judah taengah khaw, khosoih rhoek taengah khaw, hlangcoelh taeng neh ukkung rhoek taengah khaw, ka thui tangloeng hlan.
And the chiefs had no knowledge of where I had been or what I was doing; and I had not then said anything to the Jews or to the priests or the great ones or the chiefs or the rest of those who were doing the work.
17 Te phoeiah amih te, “Nangmih loh a khuiah kaimih kah yoethae na hmuh. Jerusalem he kaksap tih a vongka hmai neh a hoeh uh coeng. N'cet tih Jerusalem vongtung te n'thoh daengah ni kokhahnah koep n'dang pawt eh?,” ka ti nah.
Then I said to them, You see what a bad condition we are in; how Jerusalem is a waste, and its doorways burned with fire: come, let us get to work, building up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer be put to shame.
18 Ka Pathen kut te tah kai soah then tih manghai ol loh kai taengah a thui te khaw amih taengah ka thui bal. Te vaengah, “Thoo uh sih lamtah sa uh sih,” a ti tih a kut te a then la a thueng uh.
Then I gave them an account of how the hand of my God was on me, helping me; and of the king's words which he had said to me. And they said, Let us get to work on the building. So they made their hands strong for the good work.
19 Tedae Khoroni Sanballat, Ammoni sal Tobiah, Arab Geshem loh a yaak vaengah kaimih te n'tamdaeng. Kaimih te n'sawtsit dongah, “Balae tih he kah hno he na saii uh? Manghai te na tloelh nama?” a ti uh.
But Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, hearing of it, made sport of us, laughing at us and saying, What are you doing? will you go against the king?
20 Te vaengah amih te ol ka mael tih amamih taengah, “Vaan kah Pathen amah loh kaimih ham a thaihtak sak. Te dongah a sal kaimih tah ka thoo uh vetih ka sak uh ni. Tedae nangmih ham Jerusalem ah khoyo neh duengnah khaw poekkoepnah khaw a om moenih,” ka ti nah.
Then answering them I said, The God of heaven, he will be our help; so we his servants will go on with our building: but you have no part or right or any name in Jerusalem.

< Nehemiah 2 >