< 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 of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king: that wine was before him, and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king: and I was as one languishing away before his face.
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 thy countenance sad, seeing thou dost not appear to be sick? this is not without cause, but some evil, I know not what, is in thy heart. And I was seized with an exceeding great fear:
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: O king, live for ever: why should not my countenance be sorrowful, seeing the city of the place of the sepulchres of my fathers is desolate, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire?
4 王问我说:“你要求什么?”于是我默祷天上的 神。
Then the king said to me: For what dost thou make request? And 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 thy servant hath found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me into Judea to the city of the sepulchre of my father, and I will build 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 said to me, and the queen that sat by him: For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king, and he sent me: and I fixed 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 of the country beyond the river, that they convey me over, till I come into Judea:
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 king’s forest, to give me timber that I may cover the gates of the tower of the house, and the walls of the city, and the house that I shall enter into. And the king gave me according to the good hand of my God with 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 of the country beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. And the king had sent with me captains of soldiers, 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 Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, heard it, and it grieved them exceedingly, that a man was come, who sought the prosperity of the children of Israel.
And 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 arose in the night, I and some few men with me, and I told not any man what God had put in my heart to do in Jerusalem, and there was no beast with me, but the beast that 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 out by night by the gate of the valley, and before the dragon fountain, and to the dung gate, and I viewed the wall of Jerusalem which was broken down, and the gates thereof which were consumed 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 to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s aqueduct, and there was no place for the beast on which I rode to pass.
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 in the night by the torrent, and viewed the wall, and going back I came to 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。
But the magistrates knew not whither I went, or what I did: neither had I as yet told any thing to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the rest that did the work.
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 know the affliction wherein we are, because Jerusalem is desolate, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire: come, and let us build up the walls of Jerusalem, and let us 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 shewed them how the hand of my God was good with me, and the king’s words, which he had spoken to me, and I said: Let us rise up, and build. And their hands were strengthened in good.
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?”
But Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, and Gossem the Arabian heard of it, and they scoffed at us, and despised us, and said: What is this thing that you do? are you going to rebel 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 helpeth us, and we are his servants: let us rise up and build: but you have no part, nor justice, nor remembrance in Jerusalem.