Nehemiah 2
1 Now it happened that, in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, wine was before him; and I lifted up the wine, and I gave it to the king. And I was like someone languishing before his face.
καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν μηνὶ Νισαν ἔτους εἰκοστοῦ Αρθασασθα βασιλεῖ καὶ ἦν ὁ οἶνος ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ καὶ ἔλαβον τὸν οἶνον καὶ ἔδωκα τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἕτερος ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ
2 And the king said to me: “Why is your expression sad, though you do not appear to be sick? This is not without cause, but some evil, I know not what, is in your heart.” And I was struck with an exceedingly great fear.
καὶ εἶπέν μοι ὁ βασιλεύς διὰ τί τὸ πρόσωπόν σου πονηρὸν καὶ οὐκ εἶ μετριάζων οὐκ ἔστιν τοῦτο εἰ μὴ πονηρία καρδίας καὶ ἐφοβήθην πολὺ σφόδρα
3 And I said to the king: “O king, live forever. Why should my expression not be mournful, since the city of the house of the sepulchers of my father is desolate, and its gates have been burned with fire?”
καὶ εἶπα τῷ βασιλεῖ ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ζήτω διὰ τί οὐ μὴ γένηται πονηρὸν τὸ πρόσωπόν μου διότι ἡ πόλις οἶκος μνημείων πατέρων μου ἠρημώθη καὶ αἱ πύλαι αὐτῆς κατεβρώθησαν ἐν πυρί
4 And the king said to me: “What would you request?” And I prayed to the God of heaven.
καὶ εἶπέν μοι ὁ βασιλεύς περὶ τίνος τοῦτο σὺ ζητεῖς καὶ προσηυξάμην πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ
5 And I said to the king: “If it seems good to the king, and if your servant is pleasing before your face: that you would send me into Judea, to the city of the sepulcher of my father. And I will rebuild it.”
καὶ εἶπα τῷ βασιλεῖ εἰ ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα ἀγαθόν καὶ εἰ ἀγαθυνθήσεται ὁ παῖς σου ἐνώπιόν σου ὥστε πέμψαι αὐτὸν εἰς Ιουδα εἰς πόλιν μνημείων πατέρων μου καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω αὐτήν
6 And the king said to me, with the queen who was sitting beside him: “Until what time will your journey be, and when will you return?” And it was pleasing before the countenance of the king, and so he sent me. And I established a time for him.
καὶ εἶπέν μοι ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ ἡ παλλακὴ ἡ καθημένη ἐχόμενα αὐτοῦ ἕως πότε ἔσται ἡ πορεία σου καὶ πότε ἐπιστρέψεις καὶ ἠγαθύνθη ἐνώπιον τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ ἀπέστειλέν με καὶ ἔδωκα αὐτῷ ὅρον
7 And I said to the king: “If it seems good to the king, may he give me letters to the governors of the region beyond the river, so that they may lead me through, until I arrive in Judea,
καὶ εἶπα τῷ βασιλεῖ εἰ ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα ἀγαθόν δότω μοι ἐπιστολὰς πρὸς τοὺς ἐπάρχους πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ ὥστε παραγαγεῖν με ἕως ἔλθω ἐπὶ Ιουδαν
8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, so that he may give me timber, in order that I may be able to cover the gates of the tower of the house, and the walls of the city, and the house that I will enter.” And the king granted to me in accord with the good hand of my God, who is with me.
καὶ ἐπιστολὴν ἐπὶ Ασαφ φύλακα τοῦ παραδείσου ὅς ἐστιν τῷ βασιλεῖ ὥστε δοῦναί μοι ξύλα στεγάσαι τὰς πύλας καὶ εἰς τὸ τεῖχος τῆς πόλεως καὶ εἰς οἶκον ὃν εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς αὐτόν καὶ ἔδωκέν μοι ὁ βασιλεὺς ὡς χεὶρ θεοῦ ἡ ἀγαθή
9 And I went to the governors of the region beyond the river, and I gave them the letters of the king. Now the king had sent with me military leaders and horsemen.
καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς τοὺς ἐπάρχους πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς τὰς ἐπιστολὰς τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ ἀπέστειλεν μετ’ ἐμοῦ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀρχηγοὺς δυνάμεως καὶ ἱππεῖς
10 And Sanballat, a Horonite, and the servant Tobiah, an Ammonite, heard this. And they were saddened, with a great affliction, that a man had arrived who was seeking the prosperity of the sons of Israel.
καὶ ἤκουσεν Σαναβαλλατ ὁ Αρωνι καὶ Τωβια ὁ δοῦλος ὁ Αμμωνι καὶ πονηρὸν αὐτοῖς ἐγένετο ὅτι ἥκει ἄνθρωπος ζητῆσαι ἀγαθὸν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ
11 And I arrived at Jerusalem, and I was there for three days.
καὶ ἦλθον εἰς Ιερουσαλημ καὶ ἤμην ἐκεῖ ἡμέρας τρεῖς
12 And I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. And I did not reveal to anyone what God had placed in my heart to do in Jerusalem. And there was no animal with me, except the animal on which I was sitting.
καὶ ἀνέστην νυκτὸς ἐγὼ καὶ ἄνδρες ὀλίγοι μετ’ ἐμοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἀπήγγειλα ἀνθρώπῳ τί ὁ θεὸς δίδωσιν εἰς καρδίαν μου τοῦ ποιῆσαι μετὰ τοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ κτῆνος οὐκ ἔστιν μετ’ ἐμοῦ εἰ μὴ τὸ κτῆνος ᾧ ἐγὼ ἐπιβαίνω ἐπ’ αὐτῷ
13 And I departed in the night through the gate of the valley, and before the fountain of the dragon, and toward the dung gate. And I considered the wall of Jerusalem, which was broken apart, and its gates, which had been consumed by fire.
καὶ ἐξῆλθον ἐν πύλῃ τοῦ γωληλα καὶ πρὸς στόμα πηγῆς τῶν συκῶν καὶ εἰς πύλην τῆς κοπρίας καὶ ἤμην συντρίβων ἐν τῷ τείχει Ιερουσαλημ ὃ αὐτοὶ καθαιροῦσιν καὶ πύλαι αὐτῆς κατεβρώθησαν πυρί
14 And I continued on to the gate of the fountain, and to the aqueduct of the king. And there was no room for the beast on which I was sitting to pass through.
καὶ παρῆλθον ἐπὶ πύλην τοῦ Αιν καὶ εἰς κολυμβήθραν τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ οὐκ ἦν τόπος τῷ κτήνει παρελθεῖν ὑποκάτω μου
15 And so I climbed up in the night along the torrent, and I considered the wall. And turning back, I went by the gate of the valley, and I returned.
καὶ ἤμην ἀναβαίνων ἐν τῷ τείχει χειμάρρου νυκτὸς καὶ ἤμην συντρίβων ἐν τῷ τείχει καὶ ἤμην ἐν πύλῃ τῆς φάραγγος καὶ ἐπέστρεψα
16 Now the magistrates did not know where I had gone, or what I had done. For I had revealed nothing, even to that point in time, to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the others who were doing the work.
καὶ οἱ φυλάσσοντες οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τί ἐπορεύθην καὶ τί ἐγὼ ποιῶ καὶ τοῖς Ιουδαίοις καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν καὶ τοῖς ἐντίμοις καὶ τοῖς στρατηγοῖς καὶ τοῖς καταλοίποις τοῖς ποιοῦσιν τὰ ἔργα ἕως τότε οὐκ ἀπήγγειλα
17 And so I said to them: “You know the affliction in which we are, because Jerusalem is desolate, and its gates have been consumed by fire. Come, and let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and let us no longer be in disgrace.”
καὶ εἶπα πρὸς αὐτούς ὑμεῖς βλέπετε τὴν πονηρίαν ἐν ᾗ ἐσμεν ἐν αὐτῇ πῶς Ιερουσαλημ ἔρημος καὶ αἱ πύλαι αὐτῆς ἐδόθησαν πυρί δεῦτε καὶ διοικοδομήσωμεν τὸ τεῖχος Ιερουσαλημ καὶ οὐκ ἐσόμεθα ἔτι ὄνειδος
18 And I revealed to them how the hand of my God was with me for good, and the words of the king, which he had spoken to me. And I said: “Let us rise up, and build.” And their hands were strengthened for good.
καὶ ἀπήγγειλα αὐτοῖς τὴν χεῖρα τοῦ θεοῦ ἥ ἐστιν ἀγαθὴ ἐπ’ ἐμέ καὶ τοὺς λόγους τοῦ βασιλέως οὓς εἶπέν μοι καὶ εἶπα ἀναστῶμεν καὶ οἰκοδομήσωμεν καὶ ἐκραταιώθησαν αἱ χεῖρες αὐτῶν εἰς ἀγαθόν
19 But Sanballat, a Horonite, and the servant Tobiah, an Ammonite, and Geshem, an Arab, heard of it. And they ridiculed and disparaged us, and they said: “What is this thing that you are doing? Could you be rebelling against the king?”
καὶ ἤκουσεν Σαναβαλλατ ὁ Αρωνι καὶ Τωβια ὁ δοῦλος ὁ Αμμωνι καὶ Γησαμ ὁ Αραβι καὶ ἐξεγέλασαν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἦλθον ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς καὶ εἶπαν τί τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο ὃ ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε ἦ ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα ὑμεῖς ἀποστατεῖτε
20 And I replied to them a word, and I said to them: “The God of heaven himself is helping us, and we are his servants. Let us rise up and build. But there is no portion, or justice, or remembrance in Jerusalem for you.”
καὶ ἐπέστρεψα αὐτοῖς λόγον καὶ εἶπα αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐτὸς εὐοδώσει ἡμῖν καὶ ἡμεῖς δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ καθαροί καὶ οἰκοδομήσομεν καὶ ὑμῖν οὐκ ἔστιν μερὶς καὶ δικαιοσύνη καὶ μνημόσυνον ἐν Ιερουσαλημ
