Nehemiæ 2
1 Factum est autem in mense Nisan, anno vigesimo Artaxerxis regis: et vinum erat ante eum, et levavi vinum, et dedi regi: et eram quasi languidus ante faciem ejus.
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been [beforetime] sad in his presence.
2 Dixitque mihi rex: Quare vultus tuus tristis est, cum te ægrotum non videam? non est hoc frustra, sed malum nescio quod in corde tuo est. Et timui valde, ac nimis:
And the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid.
3 et dixi regi: Rex, in æternum vive: quare non mœreat vultus meus, quia civitas domus sepulchrorum patris mei deserta est, et portæ ejus combustæ sunt igni?
And I said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
4 Et ait mihi rex: Pro qua re postulas? Et oravi Deum cæli,
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 et dixi ad regem: Si videtur regi bonum, et si placet servus tuus ante faciem tuam, ut mittas me in Judæam ad civitatem sepulchri patris mei, et ædificabo eam.
And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.
6 Dixitque mihi rex, et regina quæ sedebat juxta eum: Usque ad quod tempus erit iter tuum, et quando reverteris? Et placuit ante vultum regis, et misit me: et constitui ei tempus.
And the king said unto me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
7 Et dixi regi: Si regi videtur bonum, epistolas det mihi ad duces regionis trans flumen, ut traducant me, donec veniam in Judæam:
Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through till I come unto Judah;
8 et epistolam ad Asaph custodem saltus regis, ut det mihi ligna, ut tegere possim portas turris domus, et muros civitatis, et domum quam ingressus fuero. Et dedit mihi rex juxta manum Dei mei bonam mecum.
and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
9 Et veni ad duces regionis trans flumen, dedique eis epistolas regis. Miserat autem rex mecum principes militum, et equites.
Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.
10 Et audierunt Sanaballat Horonites, et Tobias servus Ammanites: et contristati sunt afflictione magna, quod venisset homo qui quæreret prosperitatem filiorum Israël.
And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
11 Et veni Jerusalem, et eram ibi tribus diebus.
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12 Et surrexi nocte ego, et viri pauci mecum, et non indicavi cuiquam quid Deus dedisset in corde meo ut facerem in Jerusalem: et jumentum non erat mecum, nisi animal cui sedebam.
And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
13 Et egressus sum per portam vallis nocte, et ante fontem draconis, et ad portam stercoris, et considerabam murum Jerusalem dissipatum, et portas ejus consumptas igni.
And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal’s well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
14 Et transivi ad portam fontis, et ad aquæductum regis, et non erat locus jumento cui sedebam ut transiret.
Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
15 Et ascendi per torrentem nocte, et considerabam murum, et reversus veni ad portam vallis, et redii.
Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.
16 Magistratus autem nesciebant quo abiissem, aut quid ego facerem: sed et Judæis, et sacerdotibus, et optimatibus, et magistratibus, et reliquis qui faciebant opus, usque ad id loci nihil indicaveram.
And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
17 Et dixi eis: Vos nostis afflictionem in qua sumus: quia Jerusalem deserta est, et portæ ejus consumptæ sunt igni: venite, et ædificemus muros Jerusalem, et non simus ultra opprobrium.
Then said I unto them, Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
18 Et indicavi eis manum Dei mei, quod esset bona mecum, et verba regis quæ locutus esset mihi, et aio: Surgamus, et ædificemus. Et confortatæ sunt manus eorum in bono.
And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also of the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good [work].
19 Audierunt autem Sanaballat Horonites, et Tobias servus Ammanites, et Gosem Arabs, et subsannaverunt nos, et despexerunt, dixeruntque: Quæ est hæc res quam facitis? numquid contra regem vos rebellatis?
But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
20 Et reddidi eis sermonem, dixique ad eos: Deus cæli ipse nos juvat, et nos servi ejus sumus: surgamus et ædificemus: vobis autem non est pars, et justitia, et memoria in Jerusalem.
Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
