< Nehemiah 2 >
1 And it cometh 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;
在阿塔薛西斯王二十年「尼散」月,輪到我掌酒時,我拿起酒來,獻給國王。我不願在王面前現出憂愁,
2 and the king saith to me, 'Wherefore [is] thy face sad, and thou not sick? this is nothing except sadness of heart;' and I fear very much,
王卻問我說:「你不像有病,為什麼面帶愁容﹖沒有別的,你心中一定有愁事! 」我很是驚慌,
3 and say to the king, 'Let the king to the age live! wherefore should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of the graves of my fathers, [is] a waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?'
便向君王說:「大王萬歲! 我祖先墳墓所在的城池,成了廢墟,城門為火焚毀,我怎能不面帶愁容呢﹖」
4 And the king saith to me, 'For what art thou seeking?' and I pray unto the God of the heavens,
王問我說:「你要求什麼﹖」我向天上的天主祈禱之後,
5 and say to the king, 'If to the king [it be] good, and if thy servant be pleasing before thee, that thou send me unto Judah, unto the city of the graves of my fathers, and I built it.'
回答君王說:「大王若看著好,你僕人在你面前若獲得寵遇,就打發我回猶大去,到我祖先墳墓所在的城去,重修那城。」
6 And the king saith to me (and the queen is sitting near him), 'How long is thy journey? and when dost thou return?' and it is good before the king, and he sendeth me away, and I set to him a time.
那時,皇后也在旁坐著;王便向我說:「你旅行需要多久﹖你幾時能回來﹖」我向君王說了一個時期;王以為好,就准許我去。
7 And I say to the king, 'If to the king [it be] good, letters let be given to me for the governors beyond the River, that they let me pass over till that I come in unto Judah:
我又向王說:「大王若看著好,請賜我一詔書,通知河西州長放我通行,直到猶大;
8 and a letter unto Asaph, keeper of the paradise that the king hath, that he give to me trees for beams [for] the gates of the palace that the house hath, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I enter;' and the king giveth to me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
另一詔書,通知護守王家園林的阿撒夫,令他給我木料,為做聖殿堡壘的門戶、城牆和我要住的房舍之用。」賴我的天主慈善的手扶助我,君王都賜給了我。
9 And I come in unto the governors beyond the River, and give to them the letters of the king; and the king sendeth with me heads of a force, and horsemen;
我一來到河西州長那裏,便向他們呈上君王的詔書。同時君王還派了隊長和馬兵協助我。
10 and Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them — a great evil — that a man hath come in to seek good for the sons of Israel.
曷龍人桑巴拉特和作臣僕的阿孟人托彼雅,聽說此事,很不高興有人來為以色列子民謀圖福利。
11 And I come in unto Jerusalem, and I am there three days,
我到了耶路撒冷,在那裏停留了三天之後,
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 unto my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding.
夜間,我和跟隨我的幾個人起來;當時我並沒有告訴任何人,有關我的天主激發我的心,要為耶路撒冷所作的事;除了我騎的一頭牲口外,也沒有別的牲口。
13 And I go out through the gate of the valley by night, and unto the front of the fountain of the dragon, and unto the gate of the dunghill, and I am measuring about the walls of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates consumed with fire.
夜間我出來,經過谷門到了龍泉前,又到了糞門,觀察耶路撒冷城牆那裏有缺口,並見城門已被火焚毀。
14 And I pass over unto the gate of the fountain, and unto the pool of the king, and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over,
以後,又到了泉門,到了王池,但那地方不能騎我的牲口過去,
15 and I am going up through the brook by night, and am measuring about the wall, and turn back, and come in through the gate of the valley, and turn back.
遂在夜間,由山澗攀登而上,視察了城垣,然後轉身,由谷門進來,回了家。
16 And the prefects have not known whither I have gone, and what I am doing; and to the Jews, and to the priests, and to the freemen, and to the prefects, and to the rest of those doing the work, hitherto I have not declared [it];
我到過那裏,或作什麼,官員都不知道;直到此時,我也沒有告訴過猶太人、司祭、權貴、官員和其他工作人員。
17 and I say unto them, 'Ye are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem [is] waste, and its gates have been burnt with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not any more a reproach.'
於是我向他們說:「你們都清楚我們所處的苦境:耶路撒冷成了廢墟,城門為火焚毀。來,讓我們重修耶路撒冷的城垣,免得再受人恥笑! 」
18 And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good upon 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.
隨後,我又向他們報告:我的天主慈善的手怎樣扶助了我,以及君王向我說過什麼話。他們遂說道:「起來,大家一同修建! 」眾人勇氣倍增,遂著手進行。
19 And Sanballat the Horonite heareth, 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 ye are doing? against the king are ye rebelling?'
當曷龍人桑巴拉特、作臣僕的阿孟人托彼雅,和阿剌伯人革笙聽說這事,就譏笑我們,侮辱我們說:「你們在那裏幹什麼﹖要背叛君王嗎﹖」
20 And I return them word, and say to them, 'The God of the heavens — He doth give prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.'
我答覆他們說:「天上的天主必要使我們成功;我們是他的僕役,要動工興建;至於你們,在耶路撒冷無分無權,也無可留念的事物。」