< 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.
Now it happened that, in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, wine was before him; and I lifted up the wine, and I gave it to the king. And I was like someone languishing before his face.
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 expression sad, though you do not appear to be sick? This is not without cause, but some evil, I know not what, is in your heart.” And I was struck with an exceedingly great 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 I said to the king: “O king, live forever. Why should my expression not be mournful, since the city of the house of the sepulchers of my father is desolate, and its gates have been burned with fire?”
4 Te vaengah manghai loh kai taengah, “Balae nan dawt, vaan Pathen taengah ka thangthui ngawn ta,” a ti.
And the king said to me: “What would you request?” And I prayed 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 seems good to the king, and if your servant is pleasing before your face: that you would send me into Judea, to the city of the sepulcher of my father. And I will rebuild 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, with the queen who was sitting beside him: “Until what time will your journey be, and when will you return?” And it was pleasing before the countenance of the king, and so he sent me. And I established a time for him.
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.
And I said to the king: “If it seems good to the king, may he give me letters to the governors of the region beyond the river, so that they may lead me through, until I arrive in Judea,
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 forest, so that he may give me timber, in order that I may be able to cover the gates of the tower of the house, and the walls of the city, and the house that I will enter.” And the king granted to me in accord with the good hand of my God, who is with 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.
And I went to the governors of the region beyond the river, and I gave them the letters of the king. Now the king had sent with me military leaders 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, a Horonite, and the servant Tobiah, an Ammonite, heard this. And they were saddened, with a great affliction, that a man had arrived who was seeking the prosperity of the sons of Israel.
11 Te phoeiah Jerusalem la ka pawk vaengah hnin thum pahoi ka om.
And I arrived at Jerusalem, and I was there for 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 I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. And I did not reveal to anyone what God had placed in my heart to do in Jerusalem. And there was no animal with me, except the animal on which I was sitting.
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 departed in the night through the gate of the valley, and before the fountain of the dragon, and toward the dung gate. And I considered the wall of Jerusalem, which was broken apart, and its gates, which had been consumed by fire.
14 Te phoeiah tuiphuet vongka neh manghai tuibuem la ka kat dae kamah neh aka kat rhamsa ham hmuen om pawh.
And I continued on to the gate of the fountain, and to the aqueduct of the king. And there was no room for the beast on which I was sitting to pass through.
15 Hlaem ah soklong la ka cet tih vongtung te ka hil. Te phoeiah kolrhawk vongka longah ka pawk tih ka mael.
And so I climbed up in the night along the torrent, and I considered the wall. And turning back, I went by the gate of the valley, and I returned.
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.
Now the magistrates did not know where I had gone, or what I had done. For I had revealed nothing, even to that point in time, to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the others 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.
And so I said to them: “You know the affliction in which we are, because Jerusalem is desolate, and its gates have been consumed by fire. Come, and let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and let us no longer be in disgrace.”
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.
And I revealed to them how the hand of my God was with me for good, and the words of the king, which he had spoken to me. And I said: “Let us rise up, and build.” And their hands were strengthened for good.
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, a Horonite, and the servant Tobiah, an Ammonite, and Geshem, an Arab, heard of it. And they ridiculed and disparaged us, and they said: “What is this thing that you are doing? Could you be rebelling 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.
And I replied to them a word, and I said to them: “The God of heaven himself is helping us, and we are his servants. Let us rise up and build. But there is no portion, or justice, or remembrance in Jerusalem for you.”

< Nehemiah 2 >