Ἔσδρας Βʹ 13

1 ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἀνεγνώσθη ἐν βιβλίῳ Μωυσῆ ἐν ὠσὶν τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ εὑρέθη γεγραμμένον ἐν αὐτῷ ὅπως μὴ εἰσέλθωσιν Αμμανῖται καὶ Μωαβῖται ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ θεοῦ ἕως αἰῶνος

On that day, when someone read to the people parts of the laws [that God gave] to Moses, they read where it was written that no one from the Ammon people-group or the Moab people-group was ever to be allowed to be with God’s people while they were gathered together [to worship].

2 ὅτι οὐ συνήντησαν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ ἐν ἄρτῳ καὶ ἐν ὕδατι καὶ ἐμισθώσαντο ἐπ’ αὐτὸν τὸν Βαλααμ καταράσασθαι καὶ ἔστρεψεν ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν τὴν κατάραν εἰς εὐλογίαν

The reason for that was that the people of Ammon and the people of Moab did not give/sell any food or water to the Israelis [while the Israelis were going through their areas after they left Egypt]. Instead, the people of Ammon and Moab paid money to Balaam in order that he would curse the Israelis. But God commanded Balaam to bless the people, not to curse them.

3 καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἤκουσαν τὸν νόμον καὶ ἐχωρίσθησαν πᾶς ἐπίμικτος ἐν Ισραηλ

So when the people heard these laws [being read to them], they sent away all the people whose ancestors had come from other countries.

4 καὶ πρὸ τούτου Ελιασιβ ὁ ἱερεὺς οἰκῶν ἐν γαζοφυλακίῳ οἴκου θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐγγίων Τωβια

Previously, Eliashib the priest had been appointed to be in charge of the storerooms in the temple. He was a relative of [our enemy] Tobiah.

5 καὶ ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ γαζοφυλάκιον μέγα καὶ ἐκεῖ ἦσαν πρότερον διδόντες τὴν μανααν καὶ τὸν λίβανον καὶ τὰ σκεύη καὶ τὴν δεκάτην τοῦ σίτου καὶ τοῦ οἴνου καὶ τοῦ ἐλαίου ἐντολὴν τῶν Λευιτῶν καὶ τῶν ᾀδόντων καὶ τῶν πυλωρῶν καὶ ἀπαρχὰς τῶν ἱερέων

He allowed Tobiah to use a large room in which they had previously stored the grain offerings and the incense, the equipment that is used in the temple, the offerings [that the people had brought] for the priests, and the tithes of grain and wine and [olive] oil that [God] had commanded the people to bring to the [other] descendants of Levi, and to the temple musicians, and to the temple guards.

6 καὶ ἐν παντὶ τούτῳ οὐκ ἤμην ἐν Ιερουσαλημ ὅτι ἐν ἔτει τριακοστῷ καὶ δευτέρῳ τοῦ Αρθασασθα βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος ἦλθον πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καὶ μετὰ τέλος ἡμερῶν ᾐτησάμην παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως

While [Tobias was using that room], I was not in Jerusalem, because in the 32nd year that Artaxerxes was the king of Babylonia, I went back there to report to him. After a while I requested the king to allow me to return to Jerusalem, [and he allowed me to go].

7 καὶ ἦλθον εἰς Ιερουσαλημ καὶ συνῆκα ἐν τῇ πονηρίᾳ ᾗ ἐποίησεν Ελισουβ τῷ Τωβια ποιῆσαι αὐτῷ γαζοφυλάκιον ἐν αὐλῇ οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ

When I arrived in Jerusalem, I found out that Eliashib had done an evil thing by allowing Tobiah to use a room in God’s temple.

8 καὶ πονηρόν μοι ἐφάνη σφόδρα καὶ ἔρριψα πάντα τὰ σκεύη οἴκου Τωβια ἔξω ἀπὸ τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου

I became very angry, and I threw out of that room everything that belonged to Tobiah.

9 καὶ εἶπα καὶ ἐκαθάρισαν τὰ γαζοφυλάκια καὶ ἐπέστρεψα ἐκεῖ σκεύη οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν μαναα καὶ τὸν λίβανον

Then I commanded [that they perform a ritual] to make the rooms (pure/acceptable to God) again. And I also ordered that all the equipment used in the temple and all the grain offerings and incense should be put in that room again.

10 καὶ ἔγνων ὅτι μερίδες τῶν Λευιτῶν οὐκ ἐδόθησαν καὶ ἐφύγοσαν ἀνὴρ εἰς ἀγρὸν αὐτοῦ οἱ Λευῖται καὶ οἱ ᾄδοντες ποιοῦντες τὸ ἔργον

I also found out that the temple musicians and [other] descendants of Levi had left Jerusalem and returned to their fields/farms, because the Israeli people had not been bringing to them the food [that they needed].

11 καὶ ἐμαχεσάμην τοῖς στρατηγοῖς καὶ εἶπα διὰ τί ἐγκατελείφθη ὁ οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ συνήγαγον αὐτοὺς καὶ ἔστησα αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τῇ στάσει αὐτῶν

So I rebuked the officials, saying to them, “(Why have you not taken care of the work in the temple?/It is disgraceful that you have not taken care of the work in the temple.)” [RHQ] So I brought the descendants of Levi and the musicians back to the temple, and told them to do their work there again.

12 καὶ πᾶς Ιουδα ἤνεγκαν δεκάτην τοῦ πυροῦ καὶ τοῦ οἴνου καὶ τοῦ ἐλαίου εἰς τοὺς θησαυροὺς

Then all the people of Judah again started to bring to the temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and [olive] oil.

13 ἐπὶ χεῖρα Σελεμια τοῦ ἱερέως καὶ Σαδδουκ τοῦ γραμματέως καὶ Φαδαια ἀπὸ τῶν Λευιτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ χεῖρα αὐτῶν Αναν υἱὸς Ζακχουρ υἱὸς Μαθανια ὅτι πιστοὶ ἐλογίσθησαν ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς μερίζειν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτῶν

I appointed these men to be in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah, who was a priest; Zadok, who knew the Jewish laws very well; and Pedaiah, a descendant of Levi. I appointed Hanan, who is the son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah, to assist them. I knew that I could trust these men while they distributed those offerings to their fellow workers.

14 μνήσθητί μου ὁ θεός ἐν ταύτῃ καὶ μὴ ἐξαλειφθήτω ἔλεός μου ὃ ἐποίησα ἐν οἴκῳ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ

My God, do not forget all these good things that I have faithfully done for your temple and for the work that is done there!

15 ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις εἶδον ἐν Ιουδα πατοῦντας ληνοὺς ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ καὶ φέροντας δράγματα καὶ ἐπιγεμίζοντας ἐπὶ τοὺς ὄνους καὶ οἶνον καὶ σταφυλὴν καὶ σῦκα καὶ πᾶν βάσταγμα καὶ φέροντας εἰς Ιερουσαλημ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου καὶ ἐπεμαρτυράμην ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πράσεως αὐτῶν

During that time, I saw some people in Judea [who were working] on the Sabbath day. [Some were] pressing grapes [to make wine]. Others were putting grain, [bags of] wine, [baskets of] grapes, figs, and many [HYP] other things, on their donkeys and taking them into Jerusalem. I warned them that they should not sell things to the people of Judea on Sabbath days.

16 καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐν αὐτῇ φέροντες ἰχθὺν καὶ πᾶσαν πρᾶσιν πωλοῦντες ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ τοῖς υἱοῖς Ιουδα καὶ ἐν Ιερουσαλημ

I also saw some people from Tyre [city] who were living there in Jerusalem who were bringing fish and other things [into Jerusalem] to sell to the people of Judea on the Sabbath day.

17 καὶ ἐμαχεσάμην τοῖς υἱοῖς Ιουδα τοῖς ἐλευθέροις καὶ εἶπα αὐτοῖς τίς ὁ λόγος οὗτος ὁ πονηρός ὃν ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε καὶ βεβηλοῦτε τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ σαββάτου

So I rebuked the Jewish leaders and told them, “This is [RHQ] a very evil thing that you are doing! You are causing the Sabbath days to be unholy.

18 οὐχὶ οὕτως ἐποίησαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ ἤνεγκεν ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς πάντα τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ταύτην καὶ ὑμεῖς προστίθετε ὀργὴν ἐπὶ Ισραηλ βεβηλῶσαι τὸ σάββατον

Your ancestors did [RHQ] things like that, so God punished them, and as a result, this city was destroyed! And now by causing the Sabbath day to be unholy, you are going to cause God to be angry with us Israeli people [and punish us] more!”

19 καὶ ἐγένετο ἡνίκα κατέστησαν πύλαι Ιερουσαλημ πρὸ τοῦ σαββάτου καὶ εἶπα καὶ ἔκλεισαν τὰς πύλας καὶ εἶπα ὥστε μὴ ἀνοιγῆναι αὐτὰς ἕως ὀπίσω τοῦ σαββάτου καὶ ἐκ τῶν παιδαρίων μου ἔστησα ἐπὶ τὰς πύλας ὥστε μὴ αἴρειν βαστάγματα ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου

So I ordered that at (the beginning of every Sabbath day/every Friday evening) they should shut the gates of the city before it became dark. I also ordered that they should not open the gates until (the Sabbath day was ended [the next day]/Saturday evening). Then [each Sabbath day] I put some of my men at the gates, so they would make sure that nothing to sell was brought into the city on that day.

20 καὶ ηὐλίσθησαν πάντες καὶ ἐποίησαν πρᾶσιν ἔξω Ιερουσαλημ ἅπαξ καὶ δίς

One or two times merchants [DOU] stayed outside of the city on (Friday night/[the night before the Sabbath day]).

21 καὶ διεμαρτυράμην ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ εἶπα πρὸς αὐτούς διὰ τί ὑμεῖς αὐλίζεσθε ἀπέναντι τοῦ τείχους ἐὰν δευτερώσητε ἐκτενῶ τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐν ὑμῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ καιροῦ ἐκείνου οὐκ ἤλθοσαν ἐν σαββάτῳ

I warned them, “It is useless [RHQ] for you to stay here outside the walls [on Friday night]! If you do this again, I will tell my men to arrest you!” So after that, they did not come on Sabbath days.

22 καὶ εἶπα τοῖς Λευίταις οἳ ἦσαν καθαριζόμενοι καὶ ἐρχόμενοι φυλάσσοντες τὰς πύλας ἁγιάζειν τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ σαββάτου πρὸς ταῦτα μνήσθητί μου ὁ θεός καὶ φεῖσαί μου κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ ἐλέους σου

I also commanded the descendants of Levi to [perform the ritual to] purify themselves and to guard the city gates, to make sure that the Sabbath was kept holy [by not allowing merchants to enter it on Sabbath days]. My God, do not forget this also that I [have done for you]! And because of your faithfully loving me, allow me to continue to live [many more years]!

23 καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις εἶδον τοὺς Ιουδαίους οἳ ἐκάθισαν γυναῖκας Ἀζωτίας Αμμανίτιδας Μωαβίτιδας

During that time, I also found out that many of the Jewish men had married women from Ashdod [city], and from [the] Ammon and Moab [people-groups].

24 καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν ἥμισυ λαλοῦντες Ἀζωτιστὶ καὶ οὔκ εἰσιν ἐπιγινώσκοντες λαλεῖν Ιουδαϊστί

The result was that half of their children spoke the language that people in Ashdod speak or some other language, and they didn’t know how to speak our language.

25 καὶ ἐμαχεσάμην μετ’ αὐτῶν καὶ κατηρασάμην αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπάταξα ἐν αὐτοῖς ἄνδρας καὶ ἐμαδάρωσα αὐτοὺς καὶ ὥρκισα αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ θεῷ ἐὰν δῶτε τὰς θυγατέρας ὑμῶν τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐὰν λάβητε ἀπὸ τῶν θυγατέρων αὐτῶν τοῖς υἱοῖς ὑμῶν

So I rebuked those men, and I [asked God to] curse them, and I beat them and pulled out [some of] their hair. Then I forced them to solemnly promise, knowing that God [MTY] was [listening], that they would never again marry foreigners, and never allow their children to marry foreigners.

26 οὐχ οὕτως ἥμαρτεν Σαλωμων βασιλεὺς Ισραηλ καὶ ἐν ἔθνεσιν πολλοῖς οὐκ ἦν βασιλεὺς ὅμοιος αὐτῷ καὶ ἀγαπώμενος τῷ θεῷ ἦν καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς εἰς βασιλέα ἐπὶ πάντα Ισραηλ καὶ τοῦτον ἐξέκλιναν αἱ γυναῖκες αἱ ἀλλότριαι

[I said to them], “Solomon, the king of Israel, sinned [RHQ] as a result of [marrying] foreign women. He was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him, and caused him to become the king of all the Israeli people, but his foreign wives caused even him to sin.

27 καὶ ὑμῶν μὴ ἀκουσόμεθα ποιῆσαι τὴν πᾶσαν πονηρίαν ταύτην ἀσυνθετῆσαι ἐν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν καθίσαι γυναῖκας ἀλλοτρίας

[Do you think that] we should do what you have done, and disobey our God by marrying foreign women [who worship idols]? [RHQ]”

28 καὶ ἀπὸ υἱῶν Ιωαδα τοῦ Ελισουβ τοῦ ἱερέως τοῦ μεγάλου νυμφίου τοῦ Σαναβαλλατ τοῦ Ωρωνίτου καὶ ἐξέβρασα αὐτὸν ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ

One of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the Supreme Priest, had married the daughter of [our enemy] Sanballat, from Beth-Horon [town]. So I forced Jehoiada’s son to leave Jerusalem.

29 μνήσθητι αὐτοῖς ὁ θεός ἐπὶ ἀγχιστείᾳ τῆς ἱερατείας καὶ διαθήκης τῆς ἱερατείας καὶ τοὺς Λευίτας

My God, do not forget that those people [who have married foreign women] have caused it to be a shame/disgrace to be a priest, and have caused people to despise the agreement that you made with the priests and with the [other] descendants of Levi [who help the priests])!

30 καὶ ἐκαθάρισα αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀλλοτριώσεως καὶ ἔστησα ἐφημερίας τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν καὶ τοῖς Λευίταις ἀνὴρ ὡς τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ

I did all that to make sure that there were no more foreign people among the [Israeli] people [who would encourage them to worship idols]. I also established regulations for the priests and [other] descendants of Levi, in order that they would know what work they should do.

31 καὶ τὸ δῶρον τῶν ξυλοφόρων ἐν καιροῖς ἀπὸ χρόνων καὶ ἐν τοῖς βακχουρίοις μνήσθητί μου ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν εἰς ἀγαθωσύνην

I also arranged for people to bring the firewood [that was needed to burn on the altar, as Moses had declared] that we should [do]. I also arranged for the people to bring the first part of what they harvested [each year]. My God, do not forget [that] I [have done all these things], and bless me [for doing them]!