Nehemiah 2
1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine [was] before him: and I took up the wine, and gave [it] unto the king. Now I had not been [beforetime] sad in his presence.
Factum est autem in mense Nisan, anno vigesimo Artaxerxis regis: et vinum erat ante eum, et levavi vinum, et dedi regi: et eram quasi languidus ante faciem eius.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why [is] thy countenance sad, seeing thou [art] not sick? this [is] nothing [else] but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
Dixitque mihi rex: Quare vultus tuus tristis est, cum te aegrotum non videam? non est hoc frustra, sed malum nescio quod in corde tuo est. Et timui valde, ac nimis:
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
et dixi regi: Rex in aeternum vive: quare non moereat vultus meus, quia civitas domus sepulchrorum patris mei deserta est, et portae eius combustae sunt igni?
4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Et ait mihi rex: Pro qua re postulas? Et oravi Deum caeli,
5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.
et dixi ad regem: Si videtur regi bonum, et si placet servus tuus ante faciem tuam, ut mittas me in Iudaeam ad civitatem sepulchri patris mei, et aedificabo eam.
6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him, ) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
Dixitque mihi rex, et regina quae sedebat iuxta eum: Usque ad quod tempus erit iter tuum, et quando reverteris? Et placuit ante vultum regis, et misit me: et constitui ei tempus.
7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
Et dixi regi: Si regi videtur bonum, epistolas det mihi ad duces regionis trans Flumen, ut traducant me, donec veniam in Iudaeam:
8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which [appertained] to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
et epistolam ad Asaph custodem saltus regis, ut det mihi ligna, ut tegere possim portas templi, turres, domus, et muros civitatis, et domum, quam ingressus fuero. Et dedit mihi rex iuxta manum Dei mei bonam mecum.
9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
Et veni ad duces regionis trans Flumen, dedique eis epistolas regis. Miserat autem rex mecum principes militum, et equites.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard [of it], it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
Et audierunt Sanaballat Horonites, et Tobias servus Ammanites: et contristati sunt afflictione magna, quod venisset homo, qui quaereret prosperitatem filiorum Israel.
11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
Et veni Ierusalem, et eram ibi tribus diebus,
12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I [any] man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither [was there any] beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
et surrexi nocte ego, et viri pauci mecum, et non indicavi cuiquam quid Deus dedisset in corde meo ut facerem in Ierusalem, et iumentum non erat mecum, nisi animal, cui sedebam.
13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
Et egressus sum per portam vallis nocte, et ante fontem draconis, et ad portam stercoris, et considerabam murum Ierusalem dissipatum, et portas eius consumptas igni.
14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but [there was] no place for the beast [that was] under me to pass.
Et transivi ad portam fontis, et ad aquaeductum regis, et non erat locus iumento, cui sedebam, ut transiret.
15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and [so] returned.
Et ascendi per torrentem nocte, et considerabam murum, et reversus veni ad portam vallis, et redii.
16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told [it] to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
Magistratus autem nesciebant quo abiissem, aut quid ego facerem: sed et Iudaeis et sacerdotibus, et optimatibus, et magistratibus, et reliquis qui faciebant opus, usque ad id loci nihil indicaveram.
17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we [are] in, how Jerusalem [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
Et dixi eis: Vos nostis afflictionem in qua sumus; quia Ierusalem deserta est, et portae eius consumptae sunt igni: venite, et aedificemus muros Ierusalem, et non simus ultra opprobrium.
18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for [this] good [work].
Et indicavi eis manum Dei mei, quod esset bona mecum, et verba regis, quae locutus esset mihi, et aio: Surgamus, et aedificemus. Et confortatae sunt manus eorum in bono.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard [it], they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What [is] this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
Audierunt autem Sanaballat Horonites, et Tobias servus Ammanites, et Gosem Arabs, et subsannaverunt nos, et despexerunt, dixeruntque: Quae est haec res, quam facitis? numquid contra regem vos rebellatis?
20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
Et reddidi eis sermonem, dixique ad eos: Deus caeli ipse nos iuvat, et nos servi eius sumus: surgamus et aedificemus: vobis autem non est pars, et iustitia, et memoria in Ierusalem.
