1And 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. 2Wherefore 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, 3And 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? 4Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5And 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. 6And 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.2.6 queen: Heb. wife 7Moreover 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; 8And 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. 10When 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. 11So 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. 13And 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. 14Then 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. 15Then 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. 16And 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. 18Then 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. 19But 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? 20Then 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.
Aritasasita Atumiza Nehemiya ku Yerusalemu
1Pa mwezi wa Nisani, mʼchaka cha makumi awiri cha ufumu wa Aritasasita, atabwera ndi vinyo pamaso pa mfumu ine ndinatenga vinyoyo ndi kupereka kwa mfumu. Koma ndinali ndisanakhalepo ndi nkhope yachisoni pamaso pake. 2Tsono mfumu inandifunsa kuti, “Nʼchifukwa chiyani nkhope yako ikuoneka yachisoni pamene iwe sukudwala? Ichi si chinthu china koma chisoni cha mu mtima.”
Ine ndinachita mantha kwambiri. 3Ndinawuza mfumu kuti, “Mfumu ikhale ndi moyo wamuyaya! Kodi nkhope yanga ilekerenji kuoneka yachisoni pamene mzinda umene kuli manda a makolo anga, wasanduka bwinja ndipo zipata zake zinawonongedwa ndi moto?”
4Apo mfumu inandifunsa kuti, “Tsono ukufuna kundipempha chiyani?”
Ndipo ine ndinapemphera kwa Mulungu Wakumwamba. 5Ndipo ndinayankha kuti, “Ngati amfumu chingakukondweretseni, ngati mungakomere mtima mtumiki wanune, mundilole kuti ndipite ku Yuda, ku mzinda kumene kuli manda a makolo anga kuti ndikawumangenso.”
6Tsono mfumu, mfumukazi itakhala pambali pake, anandifunsa kuti, “Kodi kumeneko ukakhalako masiku angati ndipo udzabwera liti?” Ndinayiwuza mfumu nthawi yake ndipo inandilola kuti ndipite.
7Ndipo ndinatinso kwa mfumu, “Ngati zikondweretse mfumu, mundipatse makalata oti ndikapereke kwa abwanamkubwa a ku chigawo cha Patsidya pa Yufurate, kuti akandilole kudutsa mwamtendere mpaka nditakafika ku Yuda. 8Mundipatsenso kalata yokapereka kwa Asafu woyangʼanira nkhalango ya mfumu, kuti akandipatse mitengo yokapangira mitanda ya zipata za nsanja yoteteza Nyumba ya Mulungu, mitanda ya khoma la mzinda ndi ya nyumba yokhalamo ine.” Mfumu indipatse zomwe ndinapempha popeza Yehova wokoma mtima anali nane. 9Choncho ndinanyamuka ulendo wanga ndipo ndinafika kwa abwanamkubwa a chigawo cha Patsidya pa Yufurate ndipo ndinawapatsa makalata a mfumu. Mfumu nʼkuti itatumiza akulu ankhondo ndi okwera pa akavalo kuti atsagane nane.
10Sanibalati wa ku Horoni ndi Tobiya wa ku Amoni atamva zimenezi, iwo anayipidwa kwambiri kuti wina wabwera kudzachitira zabwino Aisraeli.
Nehemiya Ayendera Makoma a Yerusalemu
11Ndinafika ku Yerusalemu, ndipo ndinakhala kumeneko masiku atatu. 12Sindinawuze munthu aliyense za zimene Yehova anayika mu mtima mwanga kuti ndichitire mzinda wa Yerusalemu. Choncho ndinanyamuka usiku pamodzi ndi anthu ena owerengeka. Ndinalibe bulu wina aliyense kupatula amene ndinakwerapo.
13Ndinatuluka usiku podzera ku Chipata cha ku Chigwa ndi kuyenda kupita ku Chitsime cha Chirombo Chamʼmadzi mpaka ku Chipata cha Zinyalala. Ndinayangʼana makoma a Yerusalemu, amene anagwetsedwa, ndi zipata zake, zimene zinawonongedwa ndi moto. 14Kenaka ndinapita ku Chipata cha Kasupe ndi ku Dziwe la Mfumu. Koma panalibe malo okwanira akuti bulu wanga adutse. 15Kotero usikuwo ndinapita ku chigwa, ndikuyangʼana khomalo. Pomaliza ndinabwerera ndi kukalowanso mu mzinda kudzera ku Chipata cha ku Chigwa. 16Akuluakulu sanadziwe kumene ndinapita kapena zimene ndimachita, chifukwa pa nthawiyi nʼkuti ndisananene kalikonse kwa Ayuda kapena ansembe, anthu olemekezeka kapena akuluakulu, kapena wina aliyense amene anali woyenera kugwira ntchitoyi.
17Ndinawawuza kuti, “Inu mukuona mavuto amene tili nawo. Mukuona kuti mzinda wa Yerusalemu wasanduka bwinja ndipo zipata zake zatenthedwa ndi moto. Tsono tiyeni timangenso makoma a Yerusalemu ndipo sitidzachitanso manyazi.” 18Ndinawawuza za mmene Yehova Mulungu wanga anandichitira zabwino ndiponso mawu amene mfumu inandiwuza.
Tsono anati, “Tiyeni tiyambenso kumanga.” Kotero analimbitsana mtima kuti ayambenso ntchito yabwinoyi.
19Koma Sanibalati wa ku Horoni, Tobiya wa ku Amoni ndi Gesemu Mwarabu atamva zimenezi, anatiseka ndi kutinyoza. Iwo anafunsa kuti, “Kodi muti ndi chiyani chimene mukuchitachi? Kodi mufuna kuwukira mfumu?”
20Koma ndinawayankha kuti, “Mulungu Wakumwamba atithandiza kuti zinthu zitiyendere bwino. Ife antchito ake tiyambapo kumanga. Koma inu mulibe gawo lanu muno mu Yerusalemu. Mulibe chokuyenerezani kulandira malo ano. Mulibenso chilichonse muno chokumbutsa za inu.”
