Nehemias with commission from king Artaxerxes cometh to Jerusalem: and exhorteth the Jews to rebuild the walls.

 1 And 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.
Factum est autem in mense Nisan, anno vigesimo Artaxerxis regis : et vinum erat ante eum, et levavi vinum, et dedi regi : et eram quasi languidus ante faciem ejus.

 2 And 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:
Dixitque mihi rex : Quare vultus tuus tristis est, cum te aegrotum non videam? non est hoc frustra, sed malum nescio quod in corde tuo est. Et timui valde, ac nimis :

 3 And 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?
et dixi regi : Rex in aeternum vive : quare non moereat vultus meus, quia civitas domus sepulchrorum patris mei deserta est, et portae ejus combustae sunt igni?

 4 Then the king said to me: For what dost thou make request? And I prayed to the God of heaven,
Et ait mihi rex : Pro qua re postulas? Et oravi Deum caeli,

 5 And 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.
et dixi ad regem : Si videtur regi bonum, et si placet servus tuus ante faciem tuam, ut mittas me in Judaeam ad civitatem sepulchri patris mei, et aedificabo eam.

 6 And 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.
Dixitque mihi rex, et regina quae sedebat juxta eum : Usque ad quod tempus erit iter tuum, et quando reverteris? Et placuit ante vultum regis, et misit me : et constitui ei tempus.

 7 And 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:
Et dixi regi : Si regi videtur bonum, epistolas det mihi ad duces regionis trans flumen, ut traducant me, donec veniam in Judaeam :

 8 And 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.
et epistolam ad Asaph custodem saltus regis, ut det mihi ligna, ut tegere possim portas turris domus, et muros civitatis, et domum, quam ingressus fuero. Et dedit mihi rex juxta manum Dei mei bonam mecum.

 9 And 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.
Et veni ad duces regionis trans flumen, dedique eis epistolas regis. Miserat autem rex mecum principes militum, et equites.

 10 And 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.
Et audierunt Sanaballat Horonites, et Tobias servus Ammanites : et contristati sunt afflictione magna, quod venisset homo, qui quaereret prosperitatem filiorum Israel.

 11 And I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
Et veni Jerusalem, et eram ibi tribus diebus.

 12 And 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.
Et surrexi nocte ego, et viri pauci mecum, et non indicavi cuiquam quid Deus dedisset in corde meo ut facerem in Jerusalem, et jumentum non erat mecum, nisi animal, cui sedebam.

 13 And 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.
Et egressus sum per portam vallis nocte, et ante fontem draconis, et ad portam stercoris, et considerabam murum Jerusalem dissipatum, et portas ejus consumptas igni.

 14 And 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.
Et transivi ad portam fontis, et ad aquaeductum regis, et non erat locus jumento, cui sedebam, ut transiret.

 15 And 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.
Et ascendi per torrentem nocte, et considerabam murum, et reversus veni ad portam vallis, et redii.

 16 But 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.
Magistratus autem nesciebant quo abiissem, aut quid ego facerem : sed et Judaeis et sacerdotibus, et optimatibus, et magistratibus, et reliquis qui faciebant opus, usque ad id loci nihil indicaveram.

 17 Then 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.
Et dixi eis : Vos nostis afflictionem in qua sumus : quia Jerusalem deserta est, et portae ejus consumptae sunt igni : venite, et aedificemus muros Jerusalem, et non simus ultra opprobrium.

 18 And 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.
Et indicavi eis manum Dei mei, quod esset bona mecum, et verba regis, quae locutus esset mihi, et aio : Surgamus, et aedificemus. Et confortatae sunt manus eorum in bono.

 19 But 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?
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 And 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.
Et reddidi eis sermonem, dixique ad eos : Deus caeli ipse nos juvat, et nos servi ejus sumus : surgamus et aedificemus : vobis autem non est pars, et justitia, et memoria in Jerusalem.