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.
And it cometh to pass, in the month of Nisan, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine [is] before him, and I lift up the wine, and give to the king, and I had not been sad before him;
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:
and the king saith to me, 'Wherefore [is] thy face sad, and thou not sick? this is nothing except sadness of heart;' and I fear very much,
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?
and say to the king, 'Let the king to the age live! wherefore should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of the graves of my fathers, [is] a waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?'
4 Et ait mihi rex: Pro qua re postulas? Et oravi Deum caeli,
And the king saith to me, 'For what art thou seeking?' and I pray unto the God of the heavens,
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.
and say to the king, 'If to the king [it be] good, and if thy servant be pleasing before thee, that thou send me unto Judah, unto the city of the graves of my fathers, and I built 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.
And the king saith to me (and the queen is sitting near him), 'How long is thy journey? and when dost thou return?' and it is good before the king, and he sendeth me away, and I set to 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 Iudaeam:
And I say to the king, 'If to the king [it be] good, letters let be given to me for the governors beyond the River, that they let me pass over till that I come in unto 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 unto Asaph, keeper of the paradise that the king hath, that he give to me trees for beams [for] the gates of the palace that the house hath, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I enter;' and the king giveth to 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.
And I come in unto the governors beyond the River, and give to them the letters of the king; and the king sendeth with me heads of a force, and horsemen;
10 Et audierunt Sanaballat Horonites, et Tobias servus Ammanites: et contristati sunt afflictione magna, quod venisset homo, qui quaereret prosperitatem filiorum Israel.
and Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them — a great evil — that a man hath come in to seek good for the sons of Israel.
11 Et veni Ierusalem, et eram ibi tribus diebus,
And I come in unto Jerusalem, and I am 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.
and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding.
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.
And I go out through the gate of the valley by night, and unto the front of the fountain of the dragon, and unto the gate of the dunghill, and I am measuring about the walls of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates consumed with fire.
14 Et transivi ad portam fontis, et ad aquaeductum regis, et non erat locus iumento, cui sedebam, ut transiret.
And I pass over unto the gate of the fountain, and unto the pool of the king, and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over,
15 Et ascendi per torrentem nocte, et considerabam murum, et reversus veni ad portam vallis, et redii.
and I am going up through the brook by night, and am measuring about the wall, and turn back, and come in through the gate of the valley, and turn back.
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.
And the prefects have not known whither I have gone, and what I am doing; and to the Jews, and to the priests, and to the freemen, and to the prefects, and to the rest of those doing the work, hitherto I have not declared [it];
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.
and I say unto them, 'Ye are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem [is] waste, and its gates have been burnt with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not any more a reproach.'
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.
And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good upon me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, 'Let us rise, and we have built;' and they strengthen their hands for good.
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?
And Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, and they mock at us, and despise us, and say, 'What [is] this thing that ye are doing? against the king are ye rebelling?'
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.
And I return them word, and say to them, 'The God of the heavens — He doth give prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.'
