< 尼希米记 2 >
1 亚达薛西王二十年尼散月,在王面前摆酒,我拿起酒来奉给王。我素来在王面前没有愁容。
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 王对我说:“你既没有病,为什么面带愁容呢?这不是别的,必是你心中愁烦。”于是我甚惧怕。
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 我对王说:“愿王万岁!我列祖坟墓所在的那城荒凉,城门被火焚烧,我岂能面无愁容吗?”
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 王问我说:“你要求什么?”于是我默祷天上的 神。
And the king said to me, For what do you ask thus? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 我对王说:“仆人若在王眼前蒙恩,王若喜欢,求王差遣我往犹大,到我列祖坟墓所在的那城去,我好重新建造。”
And I said to the king, If [it seem] good to the king, and if your servant shall have found favour 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 那时王后坐在王的旁边。王问我说:“你去要多少日子?几时回来?”我就定了日期。于是王喜欢差遣我去。
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 我又对王说:“王若喜欢,求王赐我诏书,通知大河西的省长准我经过,直到犹大;
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 又赐诏书,通知管理王园林的亚萨,使他给我木料,做属殿营楼之门的横梁和城墙,与我自己房屋使用的。”王就允准我,因我 神施恩的手帮助我。
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 王派了军长和马兵护送我。我到了河西的省长那里,将王的诏书交给他们。
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 和伦人参巴拉,并为奴的亚扪人多比雅,听见有人来为以色列人求好处,就甚恼怒。
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.
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12 我夜间起来,有几个人也一同起来;但 神使我心里要为耶路撒冷做什么事,我并没有告诉人。除了我骑的牲口以外,也没有别的牲口在我那里。
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 当夜我出了谷门,往野狗井去,到了粪厂门,察看耶路撒冷的城墙,见城墙拆毁,城门被火焚烧。
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 我又往前,到了泉门和王池,但所骑的牲口没有地方过去。
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 于是夜间沿溪而上,察看城墙,又转身进入谷门,就回来了。
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 我往哪里去,我做什么事,官长都不知道。我还没有告诉犹大平民、祭司、贵胄、官长,和其余做工的人。
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 以后,我对他们说:“我们所遭的难,耶路撒冷怎样荒凉,城门被火焚烧,你们都看见了。来吧,我们重建耶路撒冷的城墙,免得再受凌辱!”
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 我告诉他们我 神施恩的手怎样帮助我,并王对我所说的话。他们就说:“我们起来建造吧!”于是他们奋勇做这善工。
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 但和伦人参巴拉,并为奴的亚扪人多比雅和阿拉伯人基善听见就嗤笑我们,藐视我们,说:“你们做什么呢?要背叛王吗?”
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 我回答他们说:“天上的 神必使我们亨通。我们作他仆人的,要起来建造;你们却在耶路撒冷无分、无权、无纪念。”
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.