尼希米記 2
1 在阿塔薛西斯王二十年「尼散」月，輪到我掌酒時，我拿起酒來，獻給國王。我不願在王面前現出憂愁，
And it came to pass in the month Nisan of the twentieth year of king Arthasastha, that the wine was before me: and I took the wine, and gave [it] to the king: and there was not another before him.
2 王卻問我說：「你不像有病，為什麼面帶愁容﹖沒有別的，你心中一定有愁事! 」我很是驚慌，
And the king said to me, Why is your countenance sad, and do you not control yourself? and now this is nothing but sorrow of heart. Then I was very much alarmed,
3 便向君王說：「大王萬歲! 我祖先墳墓所在的城池，成了廢墟，城門為火焚毀，我怎能不面帶愁容呢﹖」
and I said to the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be said, forasmuch as the city, even the home of the sepulchres of my fathers, has been laid waste, and her gates have been devoured with fire?
4 王問我說：「你要求什麼﹖」我向天上的天主祈禱之後，
And the king said to me, For what do you ask thus? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 回答君王說：「大王若看著好，你僕人在你面前若獲得寵遇，就打發我回猶大去，到我祖先墳墓所在的城去，重修那城。」
And I said to the king, If [it seem] good to the king, and if your servant shall have found favor in your sight, [I ask] that [you] would send him into Juda, to the city of the sepulchres of my fathers; then will I rebuild it.
6 那時，皇后也在旁坐著；王便向我說：「你旅行需要多久﹖你幾時能回來﹖」我向君王說了一個時期；王以為好，就准許我去。
And the king, and his concubine that sat next to him, said to me, For how long will your journey be, and when will you return? and [the proposal] was pleasing before the king, and he sent me away, and I appointed him a time.
7 我又向王說：「大王若看著好，請賜我一詔書，通知河西州長放我通行，直到猶大；
And I said to the king, If [it seem] good to the king, let him give me letters to the governors beyond the river, so as to forward me till I come to Juda;
8 另一詔書，通知護守王家園林的阿撒夫，令他給我木料，為做聖殿堡壘的門戶、城牆和我要住的房舍之用。」賴我的天主慈善的手扶助我，君王都賜給了我。
and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the garden which belongs to the king, that he may give me timber to cover the gates, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I shall enter. And the king gave to me, according as the good hand of God [was upon me].
9 我一來到河西州長那裏，便向他們呈上君王的詔書。同時君王還派了隊長和馬兵協助我。
And I came to the governors beyond the river, and I gave them the king's letters. (Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.)
10 曷龍人桑巴拉特和作臣僕的阿孟人托彼雅，聽說此事，很不高興有人來為以色列子民謀圖福利。
And Sanaballat the Aronite heard [it], and Tobia the servant, the Ammonite, and it was grievous to them that a man was come to seek good for the children of Israel.
11 我到了耶路撒冷，在那裏停留了三天之後，
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12 夜間，我和跟隨我的幾個人起來；當時我並沒有告訴任何人，有關我的天主激發我的心，要為耶路撒冷所作的事；除了我騎的一頭牲口外，也沒有別的牲口。
And I rose up by night, I and a few men with me; and I told no man what God put into my heart to do with Israel; and there was no beast with me, except the beast which I rode upon.
13 夜間我出來，經過谷門到了龍泉前，又到了糞門，觀察耶路撒冷城牆那裏有缺口，並見城門已被火焚毀。
And I went forth by the gate of the valley by night, and to the mouth of the well of fig trees, and to the dung-gate: and I mourned over the wall of Jerusalem which they were destroying, and her gates were devoured with fire.
14 以後，又到了泉門，到了王池，但那地方不能騎我的牲口過去，
And I passed on to the fountain gate, and to the king's pool; and there was no room for the beast to pass under me.
15 遂在夜間，由山澗攀登而上，視察了城垣，然後轉身，由谷門進來，回了家。
And I went up by the wall of the brook by night, and mourned over the wall, and passed through the gate of the valley, and returned.
16 我到過那裏，或作什麼，官員都不知道；直到此時，我也沒有告訴過猶太人、司祭、權貴、官員和其他工作人員。
And the sentinels knew not why I went, nor what I was doing; and until that time I told [it] not to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the captains, or to the rest [of the men] who wrought the works.
17 於是我向他們說：「你們都清楚我們所處的苦境：耶路撒冷成了廢墟，城門為火焚毀。來，讓我們重修耶路撒冷的城垣，免得再受人恥笑! 」
Then I said to them, You see this evil, in which we are, how Jerusalem is desolate, and her gates have been set on fire: come, and let us build throughout the wall of Jerusalem, and we shall be no longer a reproach.
18 隨後，我又向他們報告：我的天主慈善的手怎樣扶助了我，以及君王向我說過什麼話。他們遂說道：「起來，大家一同修建! 」眾人勇氣倍增，遂著手進行。
And I told them of the hand of God which was good upon me, also about the words of the king which he spoke to me: and I said, Let us arise and build. And their hands were strengthened for the good [work].
19 當曷龍人桑巴拉特、作臣僕的阿孟人托彼雅，和阿剌伯人革笙聽說這事，就譏笑我們，侮辱我們說：「你們在那裏幹什麼﹖要背叛君王嗎﹖」
And Sanaballat the Aronite, and Tobia the servant, the Ammonite, and Gesam the Arabian, heard [it], and they laughed us to scorn, and came to us, and said, What [is] this thing that you are doing? are you revolting against the king?
20 我答覆他們說：「天上的天主必要使我們成功；我們是他的僕役，要動工興建；至於你們，在耶路撒冷無分無權，也無可留念的事物。」
And I answered them, and said to them, The God of heaven, he shall prosper us, and we his servants are pure, and we will build: but you have no part, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
