Ezra 4
1 Men da Judas og Benjamins Fjender hørte, at de, der havde været i Landflygtighed, byggede HERREN, Israels Gud, en Helligdom,
Now the enemies of Judah and of Benjamin heard that the sons of the captivity were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel.
2 henvendte de sig til Zerubbabel, Jesua og Overhovederne for Fædrenehusene og sagde til dem: Lad os være med til at bygge, thi vi søger eders Gud såvel som I, og ham har vi ofret til, siden Assyrerkongen Asarhaddon førte os herhen!
And so, drawing near to Zerubbabel and to the leaders of the fathers, they said to them: “Let us build with you, for we seek your God just as you do. Behold, we have immolated victims to him from the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3 Men Zerubbabel, Jesua og de andre Overhoveder for Israels Fædrenehuse svarede: I skal ikke være fælles med os om at bygge vor Gud et Hus, men vi vil være ene om at bygge for HERREN, Israels Gud, således som Kong Kyros, Perserkongen, pålagde os!"
And Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of the fathers of Israel said to them: “It is not for you to build the house of our God with us. Instead, we alone shall build to the Lord our God, just as Cyrus, the king of the Persians, has commanded us.”
4 Så bragte Hedningerne i Landet Judas Folks Hænder til at synke og skræmmede dem fra at bygge;
Therefore, it happened that the people of the land impeded the hands of the people of Judah, and they troubled them in building.
5 og de købte Folk til med deres Råd at modarbejde dem og bringe deres Planer til at strande; således gik det, så længe Perserkongen Kyros levede, lige til Perserkongen Darius's Regering.
Then they hired counselors against them, so that they might argue against their plan during all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of the Persians.
6 Under Ahasverus's Regering, i hans første Regeringstid, skrev de en Klage oer Judas og Jerusalems lodbyggere.
And so, during the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and of Jerusalem.
7 I Artaxerxes's Dage affattede Bisjlam, Mitredat, Tabe'el og alle hans andre Embedsbrødre en Skrivelse til Perserkongen Artaxerxes. Skrivelsen var affattet på Aramaisk og oversat.
And so, in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, and Tabeel, and the others who were in their council wrote to Artaxerxes, king of the Persians. Now the letter of accusation was written in Syriac, and was being read in the Syrian language.
8 Statholderen Rehum og Skriveren Sjimsjaj skrev et Brev mod Jerusalem til Kong Artaxerxes af følgende Indhold.
Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, wrote one letter from Jerusalem to king Artaxerxes, in this manner:
9 De, der dengang skrev, var Statholderen Rehum og Skriveren Sjimsjaj og alle deres andre Embedsbrødre, Diniterne, Afarsatkiterne, Tarpeliterne, Afaresiterne, Arkiterne, Babylonerne,
“Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, and the rest of their counselors, the judges, and rulers, the officials, those from Persia, from Erech, from Babylonia, from Susa, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,
10 Susaniterne, Dehaviterne, Elamiterne og de andre Folk, som den store og navnkundige Asenappar havde ført bort og ladet bosætte sig i Samarias Byer og andensteds hinsides Floden, og så videre.
and the rest of the nations, whom the great and glorious Osnappar transferred and caused to live in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the regions across the river in peace:
11 Dette er en Afskrift af Brevet, de sendte ham: "Til Kong Artaxerxes. Dine Trælle, Folkene hinsides Floden, og så videre:
to king Artaxerxes. (This is a copy of the letter, which they sent to him.) Your servants, the men who are across the river, send a greeting.
12 Det være Kongen kundgjort, at Jøderne, som drog op til os fra dig, er kommet til Jerusalem; de er i Færd med at genopbygge denne oprørske og onde By; de genopfører Murene og udbedrer Grunden.
Let it be known to the king, that the Jews, who ascended from you to us, have arrived in Jerusalem, a rebellious and most wicked city, which they are building, constructing its ramparts and repairing the walls.
13 Men nu være det Kongen kundgjort, at hvis denne By bygges op og Murene genopføres, så vil de ikke svare Skat, Afgift eller Skyld, og der bliver Skår i Kongens Indtægter.
And now let be it known to the king, that if this city will have been built up, and its walls repaired, they will not pay tribute, nor tax, nor yearly revenues, and this loss will affect even the kings.
14 Da vi nu spiser Paladsets Salt, og det ikke sømmer sig for os at se på, at Kongen lider Skade, sender vi herved Bud og lader Kongen det vide,
But, remembering the salt that we have eaten in the palace, and because we are led to believe that it is a crime to see the king harmed, we have therefore sent and reported to the king,
15 for at der kan blive set efter i dine Fædres Krønikebog; i den vil du finde og se, at denne By er en oprørsk By, der har voldt Konger og Lande Skade, og at der fra gammel Tid har fundet Opstande Sted i den. Det er Grunden til, at denne By blev ødelagt.
so that you may search in the books of the histories of your fathers, and you may find written in the records, and you may know that this city is a rebellious city, and that it is harmful to the kings and the provinces, and that wars were incited within it from the days of antiquity. For which reason also, the city itself was destroyed.
16 Så lader vi da Kongen vide, at hvis denne By bygges op og Murerne genopføres, har du ikke mere nogen Besiddelse hinsides Floden!"
We report to the king that if this city will have been built, and its walls repaired, you will have no possession across the river.”
17 Kongen sendte da følgende Svar til Statholderen Rehum, Skriveren Sjimsjaj og alle deres andre Embeddsbrødre, som boede i Samaria og de andre Lande hinsides Floden: "Hilsen, og så videre.
The king sent word to Rehum, the commander, and to Shimshai, the scribe, and to the rest who were in their council, to the inhabitants of Samaria, and to the others across the river, offering a greeting and peace.
18 Den Skrivelse, I har sendt mig, er forelæst mig grundigt.
“The accusation, which you have sent to us, has been read aloud before me.
19 Og på mit Bud har man set efter og fundet, at denne By fra gammel Tid har sat sig op mod Konger, og at der har fundet Oprør og Opstande Sted i den;
And it was commanded by me, and they searched and found that this city, from the days of antiquity, has rebelled against the kings, and that seditions and battles have been incited within it.
20 over Jerusalem har der hersket mægtige Konger, som udstrakte deres Magt over alt hinsides Floden, og til hvem der svaredes Skat, Afgift og Skyld.
Then too, there have been very strong kings in Jerusalem, who also ruled over the entire region which is across the river. They have also taken tribute, and tax, and revenues.
21 Giv derfor Ordre til at standse disse Mænd og til, at denne By ikke må genopbygges, før der kommer Befaling fra mig;
Now therefore, hear the sentence: Prohibit those men, so that this city may be not built, until perhaps there may be further orders from me.
22 og tag eder vel i Vare for at vise Forsømmelighed i denne Sag, at ikke der skal lides store Tab til Skade for Kongerne!
See to it that you are not negligent in fulfilling this, otherwise, little by little, the evil may increase against the kings.”
23 Så snart Afskriften af denne Skrivelse fra Kong Artaxerxes var blevet læst for Rehum, Skriveren Sjimsjaj og deres Embedsbrødre, begav de sig uopholdelig til Jøderne i Jerusalem og tvang dem med Magt til at standse Arbejdet.
And so a copy of the edict of king Artaxerxes was read before Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, and their counselors. And they went away hurriedly to Jerusalem, to the Jews. And they prohibited them by force and by strength.
24 Så standsede Arbejdet på Guds Hus i Jerusalem, og det hvilede til Perserkongen Darius's andet Regeringsår.
Then the work of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem was interrupted, and it did not resume until the second year of the reign of Darius, the king of the Persians.
