Esdræ 5

1 Prophetaverunt autem Aggæus Propheta, et Zacharias filius Addo prophetantes ad Iudæos, qui erant in Iudæa et Ierusalem, in nomine Dei Israel.

Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied to them in the name of the God of Israel.

2 Tunc surrexerunt Zorobabel filius Salathiel, et Iosue filius Iosedec, et cœperunt ædificare templum Dei in Ierusalem, et cum eis prophetæ Dei adiuvantes eos.

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build God’s house which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them.

3 In ipso autem tempore venit ad eos Thathanai, qui erat dux trans Flumen, et Stharbuzanai, et consiliarii eorum: sicque dixerunt eis: Quis dedit vobis consilium ut domum hanc ædificaretis, et muros eius instauraretis?

At the same time Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, came to them, with Shetharbozenai and their companions, and asked them, “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this wall?”

4 Ad quod respondimus eis, quæ essent nomina hominum auctorum ædificationis illius.

They also asked for the names of the men who were making this building.

5 Oculus autem Dei eorum factus est super senes Iudæorum, et non potuerunt inhibere eos. Placuitque ut res ad Darium referretur, et tunc satisfacerent adversus accusationem illam.

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they didn’t make them cease until the matter should come to Darius, and an answer should be returned by letter concerning it.

6 Exemplar epistolæ, quam misit Thathanai dux regionis trans Flumen, et Stharbuzanai, et consiliatores eius Arphasachæi, qui erant trans Flumen, ad Darium regem.

The copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shetharbozenai, and his companions the Apharsachites who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king follows.

7 Sermo, quem miserant ei, sic scriptus erat: Dario regi pax omnis.

They sent a letter to him, in which was written: To Darius the king, all peace.

8 Notum sit regi, isse nos ad Iudæam provinciam, ad domum Dei magni, quæ ædificatur lapide impolito, et ligna ponuntur in parietibus: opusque illud diligenter extruitur, et crescit in manibus eorum.

Be it known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is being built with great stones and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on with diligence and prospers in their hands.

9 Interrogavimus ergo senes illos, et ita diximus eis: Quis dedit vobis potestatem ut domum hanc ædificaretis, et muros hos instauraretis?

Then we asked those elders, and said to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?”

10 Sed et nomina eorum quæsivimus ab eis, ut nunciaremus tibi: scripsimusque nomina eorum virorum, qui sunt principes in eis.

We asked them their names also, to inform you that we might write the names of the men who were at their head.

11 Huiuscemodi autem sermonem responderunt nobis, dicentes: Nos sumus servi Dei cæli et terræ, et ædificamus templum, quod erat extructum ante hos annos multos, quodque rex Israel magnus ædificaverat, et extruxerat.

Thus they returned us answer, saying, “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are building the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

12 Postquam autem ad iracundiam provocaverunt patres nostri Deum cæli, tradidit eos in manus Nabuchodonosor regis Babylonis Chaldæi, domum quoque hanc destruxit, et populum eius transtulit in Babylonem.

But after our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried the people away into Babylon.

13 Anno autem primo Cyri regis Babylonis, Cyrus rex proposuit edictum ut domus Dei hæc ædificaretur.

But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God.

14 Nam et vasa templi Dei aurea et argentea, quæ Nabuchodonosor tulerat de templo, quod erat in Ierusalem, et asportaverat ea in templum Babylonis, protulit Cyrus rex de templo Babylonis, et data sunt Sassabasar vocabulo, quem et principem constituit,

The gold and silver vessels of God’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, those Cyrus the king also took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor.

15 dixitque ei: Hæc vasa tolle, et vade, et pone ea in templo, quod est in Ierusalem, et domus Dei ædificetur in loco suo.

He said to him, ‘Take these vessels, go, put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let God’s house be built in its place.’

16 Tunc itaque Sassabasar ille venit et posuit fundamenta templi Dei in Ierusalem, et ex eo tempore usque nunc ædificatur, et necdum completum est.

Then the same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of God’s house which is in Jerusalem. Since that time even until now it has been being built, and yet it is not completed.

17 Nunc ergo, si videtur regi bonum, recenseat in bibliotheca regis, quæ est in Babylone, utrumnam a Cyro rege iussum fuerit ut ædificaretur domus Dei in Ierusalem, et voluntatem regis super hac re mittat ad nos.

Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, let a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it is so that a decree was made by Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.”