< Nehemiah 2 >

1 In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, I picked up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence.
Mjeseca Nisana, dvadesete godine kraljevanja Artakserksova, stajalo je vino pred kraljem. Uzeh ga i ponudih kralju. Nikada pred njim nisam bio tužan.
2 The king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
Tada mi kralj reče: “Što ti je tužno lice? Nisi li možda bolestan? Nije drugo nego je tuga u tvome srcu!” Ja se veoma uplaših
3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”
i rekoh kralju: “Neka uvijek živi kralj! Kako mi lice ne bi bilo tužno kad je grad gdje su grobovi mojih otaca razoren, a vrata mu ognjem spaljena?”
4 Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Kralj me upita: “Što, dakle, želiš?” Zazvah Boga nebeskoga
5 I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favour in your sight, I ask that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may build it.”
i odgovorih kralju: “Ako je kralju po volji i ako ti je mio sluga tvoj, pusti me da odem u Judeju, u grad grobova mojih otaca, da ga obnovim.”
6 The king said to me (the queen was also sitting by him), “How long will your journey be? When will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time for him.
Kralj me upita pred kraljicom, koja je sjedila kraj njega: “Koliko bi trajao tvoj put? Kada ćeš se vratiti?” Pošto sam utvrdio vrijeme koje je odgovaralo kralju, pusti me da odem.
7 Moreover I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah;
Još rekoh kralju: “Ako je kralju po volji, mogao bih ponijeti pisma upraviteljima s onu stranu Rijeke da me propuste do Judeje;
8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house that I will occupy.” The king granted my requests, because of the good hand of my God on me.
i pismo Asafu, nadgledniku kraljeve šume, da mi dadne drva za gradnju vrata na tvrđi Hrama, za gradski bedem i za kuću u kojoj ću se nastaniti.” I dade mi kralj, jer dobrostiva ruka Boga moga bijaše nada mnom.
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.
I dođoh tako k upraviteljima s onu stranu Rijeke i dadoh im kraljeva pisma. A kralj posla sa mnom časnike i konjanike.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
Kad to ču Sanbalat, Horonac, i sluga Tobija, Amonac, bi im vrlo mrsko što je došao čovjek da se zauzme za dobro Izraelaca.
11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
Stigavši u Jeruzalem, ostadoh ondje tri dana.
12 I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There wasn’t any animal with me except the animal that I rode on.
Zatim ustah noću, u pratnji nekoliko ljudi, nikomu ne povjerivši što mi je Bog moj nadahnuo da učinim za Jeruzalem; a nisam imao druge životinje osim kljuseta na kojem sam jahao.
13 I went out by night by the valley gate towards the jackal’s well, then to the dung gate; and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with fire.
Iziđoh, dakle, noću na Dolinska vrata i uputih se Zmajevskom izvoru, a zatim prema Smetlišnim vratima: razgledao sam jeruzalemski zid gdje je bio razoren i vrata koja su bila spaljena.
14 Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king’s pool, but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
Nastavio sam put prema Izvorskim vratima i Kraljevskom ribnjaku, ali nisam našao prolaza za životinju na kojoj sam jahao.
15 Then I went up in the night by the brook and inspected the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.
Uspeo sam se zato noću uz Potok, i dalje razgledajući zid, i ponovo sam ušao na Dolinska vrata. Tako sam se vratio,
16 The rulers didn’t know where I went, or what I did. I had not as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.
a da savjetnici nisu primijetili kamo sam otišao i što sam učinio. Sve do sada nisam ništa rekao Židovima: ni svećenicima, ni velikašima, ni savjetnicima, ni drugima nadstojnicima.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burnt with fire. Come, let’s build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we won’t be disgraced.”
Tada im rekoh: “Vidite u kakvoj smo nevolji: Jeruzalem je u ruševinama, a vrata mu spaljena. Hajte, sagradimo jeruzalemski zid da više ne budemo izloženi ruglu.”
18 I told them about the hand of my God which was good on me, and also about the king’s words that he had spoken to me. They said, “Let’s rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
I objasnih im kako je dobrostiva ruka Boga moga bila nada mnom, a saopćih im i riječi koje mi kralj bijaše rekao. “Ustanimo”, povikaše oni, “i gradimo!” I ukrijepiše im se ruke na dobro djelo.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
Na te vijesti počeše nam se rugati Sanbalat, Horonac, i sluga Tobija, Amonac, i Gešem, Arapin. Prezirno su nam govorili: “Što radite ovdje? Hoćete li se pobuniti protiv kralja?”
20 Then I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.”
Ali im ja odgovorih ovim riječima: “Nebeski će nam Bog dati da uspijemo. Mi, sluge njegove, ustasmo da gradimo. A vi nemate ni dijela, ni prava, ni spomena u Jeruzalemu.”

< Nehemiah 2 >