Nehemiah’s prayer
1The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’
4When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5Then I said:
‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8‘Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.”
10‘They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man.’
I was cupbearer to the king.
የነህምያ ጸሎት
1የሐካልያ ልጅ የነህምያ ቃል፤
በሃያኛው ዓመት ካሴሉ በተባለው ወር በሱሳ ግንብ ሳለሁ፣ 2ከወንድሞቼ አንዱ የሆነው አናኒ፣ ከሌሎች ጥቂት ሰዎች ጋር ከይሁዳ መጣ፤ እኔም ከምርኮ ስለ ተረፉት የአይሁድ ቅሬታዎችና ስለ ኢየሩሳሌም ጠየቅኋቸው።
3እነርሱም፣ “በሕይወት ተርፈው ከምርኮ ወደ አገራቸው የተመለሱት ሰዎች በታላቅ መከራና ውርደት ላይ ይገኛሉ፤ የኢየሩሳሌም ቅጥር ፈራርሷል፤ በሮቿም በእሳት ተቃጥለዋል” አሉኝ።
4ይህን ነገር በሰማሁ ጊዜ አያሌ ቀናት ዐዘንሁ፤ ጾምሁ፤ ጸለይሁም። 5ከዚያም እንዲህ አልሁ፤
“ለሚወድዱህና ትእዛዝህን ለሚያከብሩ የፍቅርህን ቃል ኪዳን የምትጠብቅ ታላቅና የተፈራህ አምላክ፣ የሰማይ አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ 6ባሪያህ ስለ አገልጋዮችህ ስለ እስራኤል ሕዝብ ቀንና ሌሊት በፊትህ የሚጸልየውን ጸሎት ለመስማት ጆሮህ ይንቃ፤ ዐይንህም ይከፈት። እኔንና የአባቴን ቤት ጨምሮ እኛ እስራኤላውያን አንተን በመበደል የሠራነውን ኀጢአት እናዘዛለሁ። 7በአንተ ላይ እጅግ ክፉ ሥራ ሠርተናል፤ ለባሪያህም ለሙሴ የሰጠኸውን ትእዛዝ፣ ሥርዐትና ሕግ አልጠበቅንም።
8“ለባሪያህ ለሙሴ እንዲህ ስትል የሰጠኸውን ቃል ዐስብ፤ ‘ታማኞች ካልሆናችሁ፣ በአሕዛብ መካከል እበትናችኋለሁ፤ 9ወደ እኔ ብትመለሱና ትእዛዞቼን ብትፈጽሙ፣ የተሰደዱት ወገኖቻችሁ እስከ ምድር ዳርቻ ድረስ እንኳ ቢበተኑ፣ ከዚያ እሰበስባቸዋለሁ፤ ለስሜም ማደሪያ ወደ መረጥሁት ስፍራ አመጣቸዋለሁ።’
10“እነዚህም በታላቁ ኀይልህና በብርቱ እጅህ የተቤዠሃቸው ባሪያዎችህና ሕዝብህ ናቸው። 11ጌታ ሆይ፤ የባሪያህን ጸሎት፣ ስምህን በመፍራት ደስ የሚሰኙትን የባሪያዎችህንም ጸሎት ጆሮህ ታድምጥ። በዚህ ሰው ፊት ሞገስን አድርገህለት ዛሬ ለባሪያህ መከናወንን ስጠው።”
በዚያን ጊዜ እኔ የንጉሡ ጠጅ አሳላፊ ነበርሁ።
