Nehemiah 2
1 And it comes to pass, in the month of Nisan, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine [is] before him, and I lift up the wine, and give to the king, and I had not been sad before him;
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 and the king says to me, “Why [is] your face sad, and you not sick? This is nothing except sadness of heart”; and I fear very much,
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 say to the king, “Let the king live for all time! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of the graves of my fathers, [is] a desolation, and its gates have been 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 And the king says to me, “For what are you seeking?” And I pray to the God of the heavens,
Et ait mihi rex: Pro qua re postulas? Et oravi Deum caeli,
5 and say to the king, “If [it is] good to the king, and if your servant is pleasing before you, that you send me to Judah, to the city of the graves of my fathers, and I have built 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 says to me (and the queen is sitting near him), “How long is your journey? And when do you return?” And it is good before the king, and he sends me away, and I set to 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 And I say to the king, “If [it is] good to the king, let letters be given to me for the governors beyond the River, that they let me pass over until I come to 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 to Asaph, keeper of the paradise that the king has, that he give to me trees for beams [for] the gates of the palace that the house has, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I enter”; and the king gives to me, according to the good hand of my God on 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 And I come to the governors beyond the River, and give to them the letters of the king; and the king sends with me heads of a force, and horsemen;
Et veni ad duces regionis trans Flumen, dedique eis epistolas regis. Miserat autem rex mecum principes militum, et equites.
10 and Sanballat the Horonite hears, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them—a great evil—that a man has come to seek good for the sons of Israel.
Et audierunt Sanaballat Horonites, et Tobias servus Ammanites: et contristati sunt afflictione magna, quod venisset homo, qui quaereret prosperitatem filiorum Israel.
11 And I come to Jerusalem, and I am there three days,
Et veni Ierusalem, et eram ibi tribus diebus,
12 and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving to my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding.
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 go out through the Valley Gate by night, and to the front of the Dragon Fountain, and to the Refuse Gate, and I am inspecting the walls of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates 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 And I pass over to the Fountain Gate, and to the King’s Pool, and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over,
Et transivi ad portam fontis, et ad aquaeductum regis, et non erat locus iumento, cui sedebam, ut transiret.
15 and I am going up through the brook by night, and am inspecting the wall, and turn back, and come in through the Valley Gate, and turn back.
Et ascendi per torrentem nocte, et considerabam murum, et reversus veni ad portam vallis, et redii.
16 And the prefects have not known to where I have gone, and what I am doing; and to the Jews, and to the priests, and to the nobles, and to the prefects, and to the rest of those doing the work, until now I have not declared [it];
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 and I say to them, “You are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem [is] desolate, and its gates have been burned with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not a reproach anymore.”
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 And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good on me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, “Let us rise, and we have built”; and they strengthen their hands for good.
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 And Sanballat the Horonite hears, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, and they mock at us, and despise us, and say, “What [is] this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling 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 And I return them word, and say to them, “The God of the heavens—He gives prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and 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.
