Nehemiah 1
1 This is the account of Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah. In the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was in the fortress at Susa.
The wordis of Neemye, the sone of Helchie. And it was doon in the monethe Casleu, in the twentithe yeer, and Y was in the castel Susis;
2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men. I asked them about the remnant of the Jewish exiles who had returned from captivity, and also about Jerusalem.
and Ananye, oon of my britheren, cam to me, he and men of Juda; and Y axide hem of the Jewis, that weren left, and weren alyue of the caitifte, and of Jerusalem.
3 They told me, “The remnant who are left from the exile are there in the province, but they are having a great deal of trouble and feel humiliated. Jerusalem's walls have been knocked over, and its gates burned down.”
And thei seiden to me, Thei that `dwelliden, and ben left of the caitifte there in the prouynce, ben in greet turment, and in schenship; and the wal of Jerusalem is destried, and the yatis therof ben brent with fier.
4 When I heard the news, I sat down, weeping and mourning for days, fasting and praying to the God of heaven.
And whanne Y hadde herd siche wordis, Y sat and wepte, and morenede many daies, and Y fastide, and preiede bifor the face of God of heuene;
5 Then I prayed, “Please, Lord God of heaven—the great and awesome God who keeps his agreement of trustworthy love with those who love him and keep his commandments—
and Y seide, Y biseche, Lord God of heuene, strong, greet, and ferdful, which kepist couenaunt and merci with hem, that louen thee, and kepen thin heestis;
6 please listen and focus your attention on the prayer of your servant that I am praying to you now, day and night, on behalf of your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against you, including my own sins and those of my family.
thin eere be maad herknynge, and thin iyen openyd, that thou here the preier of thi seruaunt, bi which Y preie bifor thee `to dai, bi nyyt and dai, for the sones of Israel, thi seruauntis, and `Y knouleche for the synnes of the sones of Israel, bi which thei han synned to thee; bothe Y and the hows of my fadir han synned; we weren disseyued bi vanyte,
7 We have done terrible things to offend you and we have not kept the commandments, laws, and regulations that you gave to your servant Moses.
and we `kepten not `thi comaundement, and cerymonyes, and domes, which thou comaundidist to Moises, thi seruaunt.
8 Please remember what you told Moses when you said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,
Haue mynde of the word, which thou comaundidist to thi seruaunt Moises, and seidist, Whanne ye han trespassid, Y schal scatere you in to puplis;
9 but if you come back to me and follow my commandments and obey them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will gather them together and bring them to the place I have chosen where I will be honored.
and if ye turnen ayen to me, that ye kepe myn heestis, and do tho, yhe, thouy ye ben led awei to the fertheste thingis of heuene, fro thennus Y schal gadere you togidere, and Y schal brynge you in to the place, which Y chees, that my name schulde dwelle there.
10 They are your servants and our people. You saved them by your great power and incredible ability.
And we ben thi seruauntis, and thi puple, whiche thou `ayen bouytist in thi greet strengthe, and in thi strong hond.
11 Lord, please respond to my prayer and to the prayers of those who love to worship you. Please let me be successful today and make the king sympathetic to me.” I was the king's cupbearer.
Lord, Y biseche, `thin eere be ententif to the preier of thi seruaunt, and to the preier of thi seruauntis, that wolen drede thi name; and dresse thi seruaunt to dai, and yiue thou merci to him bifor this man. For Y was the boteler of the kyng.
