Nehemiah 2
1 Sie len, tukun malem akosr, ke Tokosra Fulat Artaxerxes el mongo, nga us wain nu yorol. El tia wi liye ngan ngetnget in asor ouinge meet,
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 oru el siyuk, “Efu kom ku ngetnget in asor ouingan? Kom tia mas. Kalem lah kom supwar.” Nga lut
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 ac nga fahk, “Finsrak in paht moul lal Tokosra! Ac fuka nga in tia ngetnget in asor, ke siti se ma mwet matu luk pukpuki we uh musalla, ac mutunpot uh firiryak?”
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 Na tokosra fulat el siyuk, “Mea kom enenu an?” Nga pre nu sin God lun Kusrao,
The king replied, “What do you want me to do [for you]?” I prayed [silently] to our God [who is/rules] in heaven.
5 na nga fahk nu sin tokosra fulat, “Nga fin ohi ye motom, ac kom fin insewowo in porongo mwe siyuk luk, lela tuh nga in som nu in acn Judah, nu ke siti se mwet matu luk pukpuki we, tuh nga in ku in sifilpa musaeak acn we.”
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 Na tokosra fulat el insese nu ke siyuk luk, ac kasra el muta siskal. Tokosra fulat el siyuk sik lusen pacl nga ac som ac nga ac foloko ngac, ac nga fahkang nu sel.
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 Na nga siyuk sel elan nunak munas ase leta nu sin governor nukewa lun acn Roto-in-Euphrates, in fahk nu selos elos in fuhlela tuh nga in fahla na nwe 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 Nga oayapa siyuk ke sie leta nu sel Asaph, mwet karingin insak lun tokosra, in akkalemye nu sel tuh elan kasreyu ke sak, ma in sang orala srungul ke pot ma karingin Tempul, oayapa pot lun siti uh, ac in musai sie lohm nga in muta loac. Tokosra fulat el se nu sik ma nukewa nga siyuk kac, mweyen God El wiyu.
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 Tokosra fulat el sap kutu captain lun un mwet mweun, wi sie un mwet kasrusr fin horse, in wiyu, na nga mukuiyak som nu Roto-in-Euphrates. Nga sang leta lal tokosra fulat nu sin governor nukewa we.
[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 Tuh Sanballat, sie mwet liki siti srisrik Beth Horon, ac Tobiah, sie mwet pwapa in acn Ammon, eltal lohng lah oasr mwet se tuku in oru sie orekma su ac wo nu sin mwet Israel, na elos arulana sulungkin.
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 Nga som na nwe Jerusalem, ac ke len tolu
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 nga tia fahk nu sin kutena mwet ma God El pirikyu in oru ke acn Jerusalem. Na ke infulwen fong, nga tukakek ac tufoki, ac us kutu selos su wiyu. Kosro soko na pa kut us, pa donkey soko nga muta fac.
13 Srakna fong ke kut illa liki siti sac ke Mutunpot Infahlfal, layen roto, ac fahla nu eir aliki Nien Kof Dragon, nu ke kut sun Mutunpot Kutkut. Ke nga fahsr, nga tuni pot mukukla lun siti sac ac mutunpot ma musalla ke e.
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 Na ke layen kutulap in siti sac, nga fahla nu epang, nu ke Mutunpot Unon, ac Lulu lun Tokosra. Donkey soko nga muta fac kofla konauk acn elan ut we inmasrlon eot mukukla ah,
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 na nga tari na tufokla nu Infahlfal Kidron ac fahfahla intoein pot uh. Na nga folok ke pacna inkanek nga tuku kac, ac sifil utyak nu in siti ah ke Mutunpot Infahlfal ah.
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 Wangin mwet fulat in siti sac etu yen nga som nu we, ku mea nga oru. In pacl sac nga soenna fahk kutena ma nu sin kutena mwet Jew saya — finne mwet tol, ku mwet kol, ku mwet pwapa, ku kutepacna mwet su ac wi oasr ip la ke orekma ah.
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 Tuh pa inge, nga fahkang nu selos, “Liye elya se kut oasr kac inge ke sripen Jerusalem musalla ac mutunpot we uh kunanula! Lela kut in sifil musaeak pot lun siti uh, tuh in tia sifil sununteiyuk kut.”
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 Ac nga srumun nu selos ouiya nukewa ma God El tuh wiyu ac kasreyu kac, oayapa ke kas lun tokosra fulat nu sik. Elos topuk ac fahk, “Nokwal, kut sifilpa mutawauk musaela!” Ac elos akola in mutawauk orekma sac.
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 Ke Sanballat, Tobiah, ac sie mwet Arab pangpang Geshem elos lohng ma kut lumahla in oru inge, elos isrun kut ac fahk, “Mea se komtal nunkeyuk oru ingan? Ya kowos ac orek keke lainul tokosra fulat?”
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 Nga topkolos, “God lun Kusrao fah ase wo ouiya nu sesr. Kut mwet kulansap lal, ac kut ac mutawauk musa se inge. A funu komtal, wanginna acn lomtal in Jerusalem, ac wangin ip lomtal yorosr oemeet me.”
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.”
