Nehemiah 2

1And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king: that wine was before him, and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king: and I was as one languishing away before his face.

1And it cometh to pass, in the month of Nisan, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine <FI>is<Fi> before him, and I lift up the wine, and give to the king, and I had not been sad before him;

2And the king said to me: Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou dost not appear to be sick? this is not without cause, but some evil, I know not what, is in thy heart. And I was seized with an exceeding great fear:

2and the king saith to me, `Wherefore <FI>is<Fi> thy face sad, and thou not sick? this is nothing except sadness of heart;' and I fear very much,

3And I said to the king: O king, live for ever: why should not my countenance be sorrowful, seeing the city of the place of the sepulchres of my fathers is desolate, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire?

3and 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, <FI>is<Fi> a waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?'

4Then the king said to me: For what dost thou make request? And I prayed to the God of heaven,

4And the king saith to me, `For what art thou seeking?' and I pray unto the God of the heavens,

5And I said to the king: If it seem good to the king, and if thy servant hath found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me into Judea to the city of the sepulchre of my father, and I will build it.

5and say to the king, `If to the king <FI>it be<Fi> 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.'

6And the king said to me, and the queen that sat by him: For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king, and he sent me: and I fixed him a time.

6And 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.

7And I said to the king: If it seem good to the king, let him give me letters to the governors of the country beyond the river, that they convey me over, till I come into Judea:

7And I say to the king, `If to the king <FI>it be<Fi> 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:

8And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, to give me timber that I may cover the gates of the tower of the house, and the walls of the city, and the house that I shall enter into. And the king gave me according to the good hand of my God with me.

8and a letter unto Asaph, keeper of the paradise that the king hath, that he give to me trees for beams <FI>for<Fi> 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.

9And I came to the governors of the country beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. And the king had sent with me captains of soldiers, and horsemen.

9And 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;

10And Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, heard it, and it grieved them exceedingly, that a man was come, who sought the prosperity of the children of Israel.

10and 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.

11And I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

11And I come in unto Jerusalem, and I am there three days,

12And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, and I told not any man what God had put in my heart to do in Jerusalem, and there was no beast with me, but the beast that I rode upon.

12and 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.

13And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, and before the dragon fountain, and to the dung gate, and I viewed the wall of Jerusalem which was broken down, and the gates thereof which were consumed with fire.

13And 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.

14And I passed to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's aqueduct, and there was no place for the beast on which I rode to pass.

14And 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,

15And I went up in the night by the torrent, and viewed the wall, and going back I came to the gate of the valley, and returned.

15and 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.

16But the magistrates knew not whither I went, or what I did: neither had I as yet told any thing to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the rest that did the work.

16And 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 <FI>it<Fi> ;

17Then I said to them: You know the affliction wherein we are, because Jerusalem is desolate, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire: come, and let us build up the walls of Jerusalem, and let us be no longer a reproach.

17and I say unto them, `Ye are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem <FI>is<Fi> 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.'

18And I shewed them how the hand of my God was good with me, and the king's words, which he had spoken to me, and I said: Let us rise up, and build. And their hands were strengthened in good.

18And 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.

19But Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, and Gossem the Arabian heard of it, and they scoffed at us, and despised us, and said: What is this thing that you do? are you going to rebel against the king?

19And 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 <FI>is<Fi> this thing that ye are doing? against the king are ye rebelling?'

20And I answered them, and said to them: The God of heaven he helpeth us, and we are his servants: let us rise up and build: but you have no part, nor justice, nor remembrance in Jerusalem.

20And 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.'