< Esdras 5 >
1 Los profetas Hageo y Zacarías, hijo de Iddo, profetizaron a los judíos que estaban en Judá y Jerusalén. Les profetizaron en nombre del Dios de Israel.
At that time two prophets gave messages from God to the Jews in Jerusalem and [other cities in] Judah. The prophets were Haggai and Zechariah, who was a descendant of Iddo. They spoke those messages representing God, whom the Israelis [worshiped/belonged to], the one who was their true king.
2 Entonces Zorobabel, hijo de Salatiel, y Jesúa, hijo de Josadac, se levantaron y comenzaron a edificar la casa de Dios que está en Jerusalén; y con ellos estaban los profetas de Dios, ayudándoles.
Then Zerubbabel and Shealtiel [led many other people] as they started [again] to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. And God’s prophets [Haggai and Zechariah] were with them and helped them.
3 Al mismo tiempo Tattenai, el gobernador del otro lado del río, se acercó a ellos, con Shetharbozenai y sus compañeros, y les preguntó: “¿Quién les dio un decreto para construir esta casa y terminar este muro?”
Then Tattenai the governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River and Shethar-Bozenai his assistant and [some of] their officials went to Jerusalem and said to the people, “Who has permitted you to rebuild this temple and put furnishings in it?”
4 También preguntaron por los nombres de los hombres que estaban haciendo este edificio.
They also requested the people to tell them the names of the men who were working [at the temple]. [But the people refused].
5 Pero el ojo de su Dios estaba sobre los ancianos de los judíos, y no los hicieron cesar hasta que el asunto llegara a Darío y se les respondiera por carta al respecto.
However, God was taking care of the Jewish leaders, so their enemies were not able to prevent the people from continuing [to rebuild the temple]. [They continued to work while their enemies] sent a report to King Darius, and asked him [what he wanted them to do] about it.
6 A continuación se presenta la copia de la carta que Tattenai, el gobernador del otro lado del río, y Shetharbozenai, y sus compañeros los afarsacianos que estaban al otro lado del río, enviaron al rey Darío.
So Tattenai and Shethar-Bozenai and their officials sent a report to King Darius.
7 Le enviaron una carta en la que estaba escrito Al rey Darío, toda la paz.
This is what they wrote: “King Darius, we hope that things are going well for you!
8 Sepa el rey que fuimos a la provincia de Judá, a la casa del gran Dios, que se está construyendo con grandes piedras y se colocan maderas en las paredes. Esta obra avanza con diligencia y prospera en sus manos.
[“We want you to know that] we went to Judah Province, where the temple of the great God is being rebuilt. The people are building it with huge stones, and they are putting wooden beams in the walls. The work is being done very carefully, and they are progressing well.
9 Entonces preguntamos a esos ancianos y les dijimos así: “¿Quién os ha dado el decreto de construir esta casa y de terminar este muro?”
“We asked the Jewish leaders, ‘Who has permitted you to rebuild this temple and put furnishings in it?’
10 Les preguntamos también sus nombres, para informarles de que podíamos escribir los nombres de los hombres que estaban a su cabeza.
And we requested them to tell us the names of their leaders, in order that we could tell you who they were.
11 Ellos nos respondieron diciendo: “Nosotros somos los siervos del Dios del cielo y de la tierra y estamos construyendo la casa que se edificó hace tantos años, que un gran rey de Israel construyó y terminó.
“But [instead of telling us their leaders’ names, ] what they said was, ‘We serve the God [who created] the heaven and the earth. Many years ago a great king [who ruled] us Israeli people [told our ancestors to] build a temple here, and now we are rebuilding it.
12 Pero después que nuestros padres provocaron la ira del Dios del cielo, él los entregó en manos de Nabucodonosor, rey de Babilonia, el caldeo, quien destruyó esta casa y llevó al pueblo a Babilonia.
“'But God, [who rules] in heaven, allowed [the armies of] Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia, to destroy that temple, because our ancestors did things that caused God to become very angry. Nebuchadnezzar’s army took [many of] the [Israeli] people to Babylonia.
13 Pero en el primer año de Ciro, rey de Babilonia, el rey Ciro hizo un decreto para construir esta casa de Dios.
“'However, during the first year that Cyrus the King of Babylon started to rule, he decreed that the temple of God should be rebuilt.
14 Los utensilios de oro y plata de la casa de Dios, que Nabucodonosor sacó del templo que estaba en Jerusalén y los llevó al templo de Babilonia, los sacó también el rey Ciro del templo de Babilonia, y fueron entregados a uno que se llamaba Sesbasar, a quien había nombrado gobernador.
Cyrus returned [to the Jewish leaders] all the gold and silver cups that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem and which had been put in the temple in Babylon. Those cups were given to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom King Cyrus had appointed to be the governor in Judah.
15 Este le dijo: “Toma estos utensilios, ve y ponlos en el templo que está en Jerusalén, y que se construya la casa de Dios en su lugar”.
“'The king instructed him to take the cups back to Jerusalem, to the place [from which they had previously been taken]. He also decreed that they should rebuild the temple at the place where it had been before. So Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar to be the governor in Judah. He also sent all those things made of gold and silver, for Sheshbazzar to put in the new temple.
16 Entonces vino el mismo Sesbasar y puso los cimientos de la casa de Dios que está en Jerusalén. Desde entonces hasta ahora se ha estado construyendo, y aún no se ha terminado.
So Sheshbazzar did that. He came here to Jerusalem, and [supervised the men who] laid the foundation of the temple. And since that time, the people have been working on the temple, but it is not finished yet.’
17 Ahora, pues, si al rey le parece bien, que se investigue en la casa del tesoro del rey, que está allí en Babilonia, si es cierto que el rey Ciro decretó la construcción de esta casa de Dios en Jerusalén; y que el rey nos envíe su beneplácito sobre este asunto.”
“Therefore, your majesty, please order someone to search in the place in Babylon where the important records are kept, to find out whether [it is true that] King Cyrus decreed that God’s temple should be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then you can tell us what you want us to do about this matter.”