Nehemiah 2
1 and to be in/on/with month Nisan year twenty to/for Artaxerxes [the] king wine to/for face: before his and to lift: raise [obj] [the] wine and to give: give [emph?] to/for king and not to be bad: harmful to/for face: before his
After King Artaxerxes [had been ruling the Persian Empire] for almost 20 years, (during the spring/before the hot season) of that year, when it was time to serve wine to him [during a feast], I took the wine and gave it to him. I had never looked sad when I was in front of him before, [but on that day he saw that I looked very sad].
2 and to say to/for me [the] king why? face your bad: harmful and you(m. s.) nothing you be weak: ill nothing this for if: except evil heart and to fear to multiply much
So he asked me, “Why are you sad? [I know that] you are not sick. It must be that you are troubled about something.” Then I was very afraid, [because it was not proper to be sad when I came to the king] (OR, [because I was worried what the king would do to me if he refused to do what I was about to request him to do]).
3 and to say to/for king [the] king to/for forever: enduring to live why? not be evil face my which [the] city place grave father my desolate and gate her to eat in/on/with fire
I replied, “Your majesty, I hope you will live a very long time! But (how can I prevent myself from being sad, because the city where my ancestors are buried [has been destroyed] and is in ruins?/I cannot keep myself from looking sad, because the city where my ancestors are buried [has been destroyed and] is in ruins.) [RHQ] [Even] the city gates have been completely burned.”
4 and to say to/for me [the] king upon what? this you(m. s.) to seek and to pray to(wards) God [the] heaven
The king replied, “What do you want me to do [for you]?” I prayed [silently] to our God [who is/rules] in heaven.
5 and to say to/for king if upon [the] king pleasant and if be good servant/slave your to/for face: before your which to send: depart me to(wards) Judah to(wards) city grave father my and to build her
Then I replied, “If you are willing [to do it], and if I have pleased you, send me to the city [of Jerusalem] in Judah [province] where my ancestors are buried, in order that I may [help people to] rebuild the city.”
6 and to say to/for me [the] king and [the] queen to dwell beside him till how to be journey your and how to return: return and be good to/for face of [the] king and to send: depart me and to give: give [emph?] to/for him time
While the queen was sitting beside the king, he asked, [“If I allow you to go, ] how long will you be gone? When will you return?” [I told the king how long I would be gone, and] the king gave me permission to go, and I told him what day [I wanted to leave].
7 and to say to/for king if upon [the] king pleasant letter to give: give to/for me upon governor side: beside [the] River which to pass me till which to come (in): come to(wards) Judah
I also said to the king, “If you are willing to do it, write letters for me to take to the governors of the province west of the [Euphrates] River. Tell them to allow me to travel safely [through their province] until I arrive in Judah.
8 and letter to(wards) Asaph to keep: guard [the] park which to/for king which to give: give to/for me tree: wood to/for to lay beams [obj] gate [the] palace which to/for house: home and to/for wall [the] city and to/for house: home which to come (in): come to(wards) him and to give: give to/for me [the] king like/as hand: power God my [the] pleasant upon me
Also, [please write] a letter to Asaph, the man who takes care of your forest [in that area], telling him to give me timber to make the beams to support the gates of the fortress that is near the temple, and timber for making the walls of the city, and for building the house in which I [will live].” The king did what I requested him to do, because my God was graciously/kindly (helping/acting for) me.
9 and to come (in): come to(wards) governor side: beside [the] River and to give: give [emph?] to/for them [obj] letter [the] king and to send: depart with me [the] king ruler strength: soldiers and horseman
[After I got ready, I left to travel to Judah]. The king sent some army officers and soldiers riding on horses to accompany me, [to protect me]. When I came to where the governors of the provinces west of the [Euphrates] River lived, I gave them the letters that the king had written.
10 and to hear: hear Sanballat [the] Horonite and Tobiah [the] servant/slave [the] Ammon and be evil to/for them distress: evil great: large which to come (in): come man to/for to seek welfare to/for son: descendant/people Israel
But when [two government officials, ] Sanballat from [a village near] Horon and Tobiah from the Ammon [people-group], heard that I had arrived, they were very angry that someone had come to help the Israeli people.
11 and to come (in): come to(wards) Jerusalem and to be there day three
When I arrived in Jerusalem, I did not tell anyone what thoughts God had given to me about what I should do there. Three days after I arrived in Jerusalem, I went out of the city in the evening, taking a few other men with me. I was riding a donkey; we had no other animals with us.
12 and to arise: rise night I and human little with me and not to tell to/for man what? God my to give: put to(wards) heart my to/for to make: do to/for Jerusalem and animal nothing with me that if: except if: except [the] animal which I to ride in/on/with her
13 and to come out: come [emph?] in/on/with gate [the] Valley (Gate) night and to(wards) face: before Fountain of Dragon and to(wards) gate [the] Dung (Gate) and to be to inspect in/on/with wall Jerusalem which (they(masc.) to break through *Q(K)*) and gate her to eat in/on/with fire
We left the city, going out through the Valley Gate, then past the well called the Jackal (OR, Dragon’s) Well, and then past the gate called the Rubbish/Garbage Gate. We inspected all the walls that had been broken down and all the gates that had been burned down.
14 and to pass to(wards) gate [the] Fountain (Gate) and to(wards) (Shelah) Pool [the] King's and nothing place to/for animal to/for to pass underneath: under me
Then we went to the Fountain Gate and to the pool called the King’s Pool, but my donkey could not get through [the narrow opening] (OR, [the rubble]).
15 and to be to ascend: rise in/on/with torrent: valley night and to be to inspect in/on/with wall and to return: return and to come (in): come in/on/with gate [the] Valley (Gate) and to return: return
So we turned back and went along the [Kidron] Valley. We inspected the wall there before we turned back/around and entered the city again at the Valley Gate.
16 and [the] ruler not to know where? to go: went and what? I to make: do and to/for Jew and to/for priest and to/for noble and to/for ruler and to/for remainder to make: do [the] work till so not to tell
The [city] officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because I had not told anyone about what I planned to do. I had not said anything about it to the Jewish leaders or the officials or the priests or any of the others who would be helping me in the work [that I wanted to do].
17 and to say to(wards) them you(m. p.) to see: see [the] distress: harm which we in/on/with her which Jerusalem desolate and gate her to kindle in/on/with fire to go: come! and to build [obj] wall Jerusalem and not to be still reproach
But now I said to them, “You all know very well the terrible things [that have happened to] our city. The city is ruined; even the gates are burned down. So we should rebuild the city wall. If we do that, we will no longer feel humiliated/disgraced.”
18 and to tell to/for them [obj] hand: power God my which he/she/it pleasant upon me and also word [the] king which to say to/for me and to say to arise: rise and to build and to strengthen: strengthen hand their to/for welfare
Then I told them about how God had kindly/graciously helped me [when I talked to the king], and what the king had said to me. They immediately replied, “Let’s start rebuilding!” So they started to do this good work.
19 and to hear: hear Sanballat [the] Horonite and Tobiah [the] servant/slave [the] Ammon and Geshem [the] Arabian and to mock to/for us and to despise upon us and to say what? [the] word: thing [the] this which you(m. p.) to make: do upon [the] king you(m. p.) to rebel
But when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Gershom the Arab [king of the Kedar region] heard about what we planned to do, they made fun of us and ridiculed us. They said, “What is this work that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king [again]?” [RHQ]
20 and to return: reply [obj] them word and to say to/for them God [the] heaven he/she/it to prosper to/for us and we servant/slave his to arise: rise and to build and to/for you nothing portion and righteousness and memorial in/on/with Jerusalem
But I replied, “Our God [who is/rules] in heaven will help our plans to succeed. But as for you, you have no right to decide anything about this city, because you have not participated in what has happened in this city in previous years.”
