Nehemiah 2
1 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].
I nisan månad i det tjugande styringsåret åt Artahsasta, då høvde so at vin stod framfyre honom, tok eg vinen og flidde kongen. Og eg hadde ikkje fyrr synt meg sturen for honom.
2 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]).
Då sagde kongen til meg: «Kvi er du so sturen? Du er då ikkje sjuk! Dette kann ikkje vera anna enn hjartesut.» Eg vart fælt rædd,
3 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.”
og eg sagde til kongen: «Må kongen liva æveleg! Kvi skulde ikkje eg stura når byen der federne er gravlagde, ligg i røys, og portarne der er uppbrende?»
4 The king replied, “What do you want me to do [for you]?” I prayed [silently] to our God [who is/rules] in heaven.
Kongen sagde til meg: «Kva er det du ynskjer?» Då bad eg ei bøn til Gud i himmelen.
5 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.”
Og so sagde eg til kongen: «Um det tekkjest kongen, og um du eig godvilje for tenaren din, so ynskjer eg å verta send til Juda, til byen der federne mine er gravlagde, so eg kann byggja honom upp att.»
6 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].
Kongen sagde til meg, medan dronningi sat ved sida: «Kor lenge vil ferdi di vara, og kva tid kjem du att?» Då det soleis tektest Kongen å lata meg fara, gjorde eg avtale med honom um ei viss tid.
7 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.
So sagde eg til kongen: «Um det tekkjes kongen, so lat meg få med brev til jarlarne på hi sida elvi, so dei let meg fara igjenom til dess eg kjem til Juda.
8 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.
Og lat meg få brev til Asaf, han som hev tilsyn med den kongelege skogen, so han let meg få timber til portbjelkarne i borgi som høyrer til huset, til bymuren og til huset eg skal bu i.» Kongen let meg få det, av di min Gud heldt si gode hand yver meg.
9 [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.
Då eg kom til jarlarne på hi sida elvi, flidde eg deim kongebrevi. Kongen sende ogso med meg hovudsmenner og hestfolk.
10 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.
Men då horoniten Sanballat og den ammonitiske tenestmannen Tobia høyrde gjete dette, tykte dei det var fælt tregelegt, at det var komen ein mann og vilde søkja det som var til bate for Israels-borni.
11 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.
Då eg kom til Jerusalem, og hadde vore der tri dagar,
reis eg upp um natti, eg og nokre få mann med meg. Eg hadde ikkje nemnt med noko menneskje kva min Gud hadde gjeve meg i hugen å gjera for Jerusalem. Det dyret eg reid på, var det einaste dyret eg hadde med meg.
13 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.
Eg drog ut um natti gjenom Dalporten og burtimot Drakekjelda og Møkporten. Eg såg på murarne kring Jerusalem; dei var nedbrotne, og portarne var uppbrende.
14 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]).
So drog eg burt til Kjeldeporten og Kongedammen; men der var det ikkje råd for dyret å koma fram med meg.
15 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.
So drog eg upp i dalen um natti og såg på muren og kom so attende gjenom Dalporten.
16 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].
Formennerne hadde ikkje fenge visst kva veg eg hadde fare, eller kva eg emna på. Eg hadde ikkje endå nemnt noko med jødarne eller prestarne eller dei adelborne eller formennerne eller nokon annan som skulde hava med arbeidet å gjera.
17 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.”
Men no sagde eg til deim: «De ser sjølve kor ille me er stelte. Jerusalem ligg i øyde, portarne er uppbrende. Kom, lat oss byggja upp att muren kring Jerusalem, so me ikkje skal hava den skammi på oss lenger.»
18 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.
Eg tala med deim um handi åt min Gud, kor ho hadde synt seg nådig mot meg. Like eins fortalde eg kva kongen hadde sagt med meg. Då sagde dei: «Me vil ganga i veg og byggja.» Og dei styrkte seg til det gode verket.
19 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]
Men då horoniten Sanballat og den ammonitiske tenestmannen Tobia og arabaren Gesem spurde dette, spotta dei oss og svivyrde oss: «Kva er det de gjer på?» sagde dei. «Vil de gjera upprør mot kongen?»
20 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.”
Då gav eg deim dette svaret: «Gud i himmelen vil gjeva oss lukka. Og me, hans tenarar, vil ganga i veg og byggja. Men de hev ikkje anten lut eller rett eller minne i Jerusalem.»
