1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. 2 Wherefore 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 And 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 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. 6 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 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 convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 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 palace which appertained 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 ¶ 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 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it , it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. 11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12 ¶ And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. 14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. 15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. 16 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 ¶ Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress 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 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also 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 this good work . 19 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 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.
1 factum est autem in mense nisan anno vicesimo Artarxersis regis
et vinum erat ante eum et levavi vinum et dedi regi
et non eram quasi languidus ante faciem eius
2 dixitque mihi rex
quare vultus tuus tristis cum te aegrotum non videam
non est hoc frustra
sed malum nescio quid in corde tuo est
et timui valde ac nimis
3 et dixi regi rex in aeternum vive
quare non maereat vultus meus
quia civitas domus sepulchrorum patris mei deserta est
et portae eius conbustae sunt igni
4 et ait mihi rex pro qua re postulas
et oravi Deum caeli
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
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
7 et dixi regi si regi videtur bonum
epistulas det mihi ad duces regionis trans Flumen
ut transducant me donec veniam in Iudaeam
8 et epistulam ad Asaph custodem saltus regis
ut det mihi ligna et tegere possim portas turris domus
et muri civitatis
et domum quam ingressus fuero
et dedit mihi rex iuxta manum Dei mei bonam mecum
9 et veni ad duces regionis trans Flumen
dedique eis epistulas regis
miserat autem mecum rex principes militum et
equites
10 et audierunt Sanaballat Horonites et Tobias servus ammanites
et contristati sunt adflictione magna
quod venisset homo qui quaereret prosperitatem filiorum Israhel
11 et veni Hierusalem et eram ibi diebus tribus
12 et surrexi nocte ego et viri pauci mecum
et non indicavi cuiquam
quid Deus dedisset in corde meo ut facerem in Hierusalem
et iumentum non erat mecum nisi animal cui sedebam
13 et egressus sum per portam Vallis nocte
et ante fontem Draconis et ad portam Stercoris
et considerabam murum Hierusalem dissipatum
et portas eius consumptas igni
14 et transivi ad portam Fontis et ad aquaeductum Regis
et non erat locus iumento cui sedebam ut transiret
15 et ascendi per torrentem nocte et considerabam murum
et reversus veni ad portam Vallis et redii
16 magistratus autem nesciebant quo
abissem
aut quid ego facerem
sed et Iudaeis et sacerdotibus et optimatibus et magistratibus
et reliquis qui faciebant opus
usque ad id locorum nihil indicaveram
17 et dixi eis vos nostis adflictionem in qua sumus
quia Hierusalem deserta est
et portae eius consumptae sunt igni
venite et aedificemus muros Hierusalem
et non simus ultra obprobrium
18 et indicavi eis manum Dei mei quod esset bona mecum
et verba regis quae locutus est mihi
et aio surgamus et aedificemus
et confortatae sunt manus eorum in bono
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
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
Hierusalem