< 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 to pass 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 unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
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 unto me: 'Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.' Then I was very sore afraid.
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 unto the king: 'Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed 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 unto me: 'For what dost thou make request?' So 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 unto the king: 'If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build 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 unto me, the queen also sitting by him: 'For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return?' So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a 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.
Moreover I said unto the king: 'If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through till I come unto 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 unto Asaph the keeper of the king's park, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.' And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon 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 governors beyond 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 when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare 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 I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
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 by the valley gate, even toward the dragon's well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed 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 fountain gate and to the king's pool; but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
15 Hlaem ah soklong la ka cet tih vongtung te ka hil. Te phoeiah kolrhawk vongka longah ka pawk tih ka mael.
Then went I up in the night in the valley, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so 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.
And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did 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 said I unto them: 'Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire; come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.'
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 told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also of the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said: 'Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands 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 when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said: 'What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel 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 answered I them, and said unto them: 'The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.'

< Nehemiah 2 >