Nehemias 2
1 I Nisan Måned i Kong Artaxerxes's tyvende Regeringsår, da jeg skulde sørge for Vin, har jeg engang Vinen frem og rakte Kongen den. Jeg havde ikke før set modfalden ud, når jeg stod for hans Ansigt.
And it came about 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 to the king. Now I had never before been sad when the king was present.
2 Og Kongen sagde til mig: Hvorfor ser du så modfalden ud? Du er jo ikke syg; det kan ikke være andet, end at du har en Hjertesorg! Da blev jeg såre bange,
And the king said to me, Why is your face sad, seeing that you are not ill? this is nothing but sorrow of heart. Then I was full of fear;
3 og jeg sagde til Kongen: "Kongen leve evindelig! Hvor kan jeg andet end se modfalden ud, når den By, hvor mine Fædres Grave er, ligger øde, og dens Porte er fortæret af Ilden?
And said to the king, May the king be living for ever: is it not natural for my face to be sad, when the town, the place where the bodies of my fathers are at rest, has been made waste and its doorways burned with fire?
4 Kongen spurgte mig da: "Hvad er det, du ønsker? Så bad jeg til Himmelens Gud,"
Then the king said to me, What is your desire? So I made prayer to the God of heaven.
5 og jeg sagde til Kongen: "Hvis Kongen synes, og hvis din Tjener er dig til Behag, beder jeg om, at du vil lade mig rejse til Juda, til den By, hvor mine Fædres Grave er, og lade mig bygge den op igen!
And I said to the king, If it is the king's pleasure, and if your servant has your approval, send me to Judah, to the town where the bodies of my fathers are at rest, so that I may take in hand the building of it.
6 Da sagde Kongen til mig, medens Dronningen sad ved hans Side: "Hvor længe vil den Rejse vare, og hvornår kan du vende tilbage? Og da Kongen således fandt for godt at lade mig rejse, opgav jeg ham en Tid.
And the king said to me (the queen being seated by his side), How long will your journey take, and when will you come back? So the king was pleased to send me, and I gave him a fixed time.
7 Og jeg sagde til Kongen: Hvis Kongen synes, så lad mig få Breve med til Statholderne hinsides Floden, så de lader mig drage videre, til jeg når Juda,
Further, I said to the king, If it is the king's pleasure, let letters be given to me for the rulers across the river, so that they may let me go through till I come to Judah;
8 og et Brev til Asaf, Opsynsmanden. over den kongelige Skov, at han skal give mig Træ til Bjælkeværket i Tempelborgens Porte og til Byens Mur og det Hus, jeg tager ind i! Det gav Kongen mig, eftersom min Guds gode Hånd var over mig.
And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's park, so that he may give me wood to make boards for the doors of the tower of the house, and for the wall of the town, and for the house which is to be mine. And the king gave me this, for the hand of my God was on me.
9 Da jeg kom til Statholderne hinsides Floden, gav jeg dem Kongens Breve; desuden havde Kongen givet mig Hærførere og Ryttere med på Rejsen.
Then I came to the rulers of the lands across the river and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.
10 Men da Horoniten Sanballat og den ammonitiske Træl Tobija hørte det, ærgrede de sig højligen over, at der var kommet en Mand for at arbejde på Israeliternes Bedste.
And Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, hearing of it, were greatly troubled because a man had come to the help of the children of Israel.
11 Så kom jeg til Jerusalem, og da jeg havde været der i tre Dage,
So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
12 brød jeg op ved Nattetide sammen med nogle få Mænd uden at have sagt noget Menneske, hvad min Gud havde skudt mig i Sinde at gøre for Jerusalem; og der var intet andet Dyr med end det, jeg red på.
And in the night I got up, taking with me a small band of men; I said nothing to any man of what God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem: and I had no beast with me but the one on which I was seated.
13 Jeg red så om Natten ud gennem Dalporten i Retning af Dragekilden og hen til Møgporten, idet jeg undersøgte Jerusalems Mure, der var nedrevet, og Portene, der var fortæret af Ilden;
And I went out by night, through the doorway of the valley, and past the dragon's water-spring as far as the place where waste material was put, viewing the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and the doorways which had been burned with fire.
14 derpå red jeg videre til Kildeporten og Kongedammen, men der var ikke Plads nok til, at mit Ridedyr kunde komme frem med mig.
Then I went on to the door of the fountain and to the king's pool: but there was no room for my beast to get through.
15 Så red jeg om Natten op igennem Dalen og undersøgte Muren, forandrede Retning og red så ind igennem Dalporten, hvorpå jeg vendte hjem.
Then in the night, I went up by the stream, viewing the wall; then turning back, I went in by the door in the valley, and so came back.
16 Forstanderne vidste ikke, hvor jeg var gået hen, eller hvad jeg foretog mig; og hverken Jøderne, Præsterne, Stormændene, Forstanderne eller de andre, der skulde have med Arbejdet at gøre, havde jeg endnu sagt noget.
And the chiefs had no knowledge of where I had been or what I was doing; and I had not then said anything to the Jews or to the priests or the great ones or the chiefs or the rest of those who were doing the work.
17 Men nu sagde jeg til dem: I ser den Ulykke, vi er i, hvorledes Jerusalem er ødelagt og Portene opbrændt; kom derforog lad os opbygge Jerusalems Mur, så vi ikke mere skal være til Spot!
Then I said to them, You see what a bad condition we are in; how Jerusalem is a waste, and its doorways burned with fire: come, let us get to work, building up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer be put to shame.
18 Og da jeg fortalte dem, hvorledes min Guds gode Hånd havde været over mig, og om de Ord, Kongen havde talt til mig, sagde de: Lad os gøre os rede og bygge! Og de tog sig sammen til det gode Værk.
Then I gave them an account of how the hand of my God was on me, helping me; and of the king's words which he had said to me. And they said, Let us get to work on the building. So they made their hands strong for the good work.
19 Da Horoniten Sanballat, den ammonitiske Træl Tobija og Araberen Gesjem hørte det, spottede de os og sagde hånligt til os: Hvad er det, I der har for? Sætter I eder op mod Kongen?
But Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, hearing of it, made sport of us, laughing at us and saying, What are you doing? will you go against the king?
20 Men jeg gav dem til Svar: "Himmelens Gud vil lade det lykkes for os, og vi, hans Tjenere, vil gøre os rede og bygge; men I har ingen Del eller Ret eller Ihukommelse i Jerusalem!"
Then answering them I said, The God of heaven, he will be our help; so we his servants will go on with our building: but you have no part or right or any name in Jerusalem.
