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 eius.
In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, I picked up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence.
2 Dixitque mihi rex: Quare vultus tuus tristis est, cum te aegrotum non videam? non est hoc frustra, sed malum nescio quod in corde tuo est. Et timui valde, ac nimis:
The king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
3 et dixi regi: Rex in aeternum vive: quare non moereat vultus meus, quia civitas domus sepulchrorum patris mei deserta est, et portae eius combustae sunt igni?
I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”
4 Et ait mihi rex: Pro qua re postulas? Et oravi Deum caeli,
Then the king said to me, “What is your 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 Iudaeam ad civitatem sepulchri patris mei, et aedificabo eam.
I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favour in your sight, I ask that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may build it.”
6 Dixitque mihi rex, et regina quae sedebat iuxta eum: Usque ad quod tempus erit iter tuum, et quando reverteris? Et placuit ante vultum regis, et misit me: et constitui ei tempus.
The king said to me (the queen was also sitting by him), “How long will your journey be? When will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time for him.
7 Et dixi regi: Si regi videtur bonum, epistolas det mihi ad duces regionis trans Flumen, ut traducant me, donec veniam in Iudaeam:
Moreover I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah;
8 et epistolam ad Asaph custodem saltus regis, ut det mihi ligna, ut tegere possim portas templi, turres, domus, et muros civitatis, et domum, quam ingressus fuero. Et dedit mihi rex iuxta manum Dei mei bonam mecum.
and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house that I will occupy.” The king granted my requests, because of the good hand of my God on 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 captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10 Et audierunt Sanaballat Horonites, et Tobias servus Ammanites: et contristati sunt afflictione magna, quod venisset homo, qui quaereret prosperitatem filiorum Israel.
When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
11 Et veni Ierusalem, 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 Ierusalem, et iumentum non erat mecum, nisi animal, cui sedebam.
I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There wasn’t any animal with me except the animal that I rode on.
13 Et egressus sum per portam vallis nocte, et ante fontem draconis, et ad portam stercoris, et considerabam murum Ierusalem dissipatum, et portas eius consumptas igni.
I went out by night by the valley gate towards the jackal’s well, then to the dung gate; and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with fire.
14 Et transivi ad portam fontis, et ad aquaeductum regis, et non erat locus iumento, cui sedebam, ut transiret.
Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king’s pool, but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
15 Et ascendi per torrentem nocte, et considerabam murum, et reversus veni ad portam vallis, et redii.
Then I went up in the night by the brook and inspected 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 Iudaeis et sacerdotibus, et optimatibus, et magistratibus, et reliquis qui faciebant opus, usque ad id loci nihil indicaveram.
The rulers didn’t know where I went, or what I did. I had not as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.
17 Et dixi eis: Vos nostis afflictionem in qua sumus; quia Ierusalem deserta est, et portae eius consumptae sunt igni: venite, et aedificemus muros Ierusalem, et non simus ultra opprobrium.
Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burnt with fire. Come, let’s build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we won’t be disgraced.”
18 Et indicavi eis manum Dei mei, quod esset bona mecum, et verba regis, quae locutus esset mihi, et aio: Surgamus, et aedificemus. Et confortatae sunt manus eorum in bono.
I told them about the hand of my God which was good on me, and also about the king’s words that he had spoken to me. They said, “Let’s 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: Quae est haec res, quam facitis? numquid contra regem vos rebellatis?
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
20 Et reddidi eis sermonem, dixique ad eos: Deus caeli ipse nos iuvat, et nos servi eius sumus: surgamus et aedificemus: vobis autem non est pars, et iustitia, et memoria in Ierusalem.
Then I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.”
