1And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine [was] before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.
1亞達薛西王二十年尼散月，在王面前擺酒，我拿起酒來奉給王。我素來在王面前沒有愁容。
2So the king said to me, 'Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.' Then I was very much afraid.
2王對我說：你既沒有病，為甚麼面帶愁容呢？這不是別的，必是你心中愁煩。於是我甚懼怕。
3I said to the king, 'Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?'
3我對王說：願王萬歲！我列祖墳墓所在的那城荒涼，城門被火焚燒，我豈能面無愁容麼？
4Then the king said to me, 'What would you request?' So I prayed to the God of heaven.
4王問我說：你要求甚麼？於是我默禱天上的神。
5I said to the king, 'If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it.'
5我對王說：僕人若在王眼前蒙恩，王若喜歡，求王差遣我往猶大，到我列祖墳墓所在的那城去，我好重新建造。
6Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, 'How long will your journey be, and when will you return?' So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.
6那時王后坐在王的旁邊。王問我說：你去要多少日子？幾時回來？我就定了日期。於是王喜歡差遣我去。
7And I said to the king, 'If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors [of the provinces] beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah,
7我又對王說：王若喜歡，求王賜我詔書，通知大河西的省長准我經過，直到猶大；
8and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.' And the king granted [them] to me because the good hand of my God [was] on me.
8又賜詔書，通知管理王園林的亞薩，使他給我木料，做屬殿營樓之門的橫梁和城牆，與我自己房屋使用的。王就允准我，因我神施恩的手幫助我。
9Then I came to the governors [of the provinces] beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
9王派了軍長和馬兵護送我。我到了河西的省長那裡，將王的詔書交給他們。
10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard [about it], it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.
10和倫人參巴拉，並為奴的亞捫人多比雅，聽見有人來為以色列人求好處，就甚惱怒。
11So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
11我到了耶路撒冷，在那裡住了三日。
12And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.
12我夜間起來，有幾個人也一同起來；但神使我心裡要為耶路撒冷做甚麼事，我並沒有告訴人。除了我騎的牲口以外，也沒有別的牲口在我那裡。
13So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon's Well and [on] to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire.
13當夜我出了谷門，往野狗井去（野狗：或譯龍），到了糞廠門，察看耶路撒冷的城牆，見城牆拆毀，城門被火焚燒。
14Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass.
14我又往前，到了泉門和王池，但所騎的牲口沒有地方過去。
15So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned.
15於是夜間沿溪而上，察看城牆，又轉身進入谷門，就回來了。
16The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.
16我往哪裡去，我做甚麼事，官長都不知道。我還沒有告訴猶大平民、祭司、貴冑、官長，和其餘做工的人。
17Then I said to them, 'You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.'
17以後，我對他們說：我們所遭的難，耶路撒冷怎樣荒涼，城門被火焚燒，你們都看見了。來罷，我們重建耶路撒冷的城牆，免得再受凌辱！
18I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, 'Let us arise and build.' So they put their hands to the good [work].
18我告訴他們我神施恩的手怎樣幫助我，並王對我所說的話。他們就說：我們起來建造罷！於是他們奮勇做這善工。
19But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard [it], they mocked us and despised us and said, 'What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?'
19但和倫人參巴拉，並為奴的亞捫人多比雅和亞拉伯人基善聽見就嗤笑我們，藐視我們，說：你們做甚麼呢？要背叛王麼？
20So I answered them and said to them, 'The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem.'
20我回答他們說：天上的神必使我們亨通。我們作他僕人的，要起來建造；你們卻在耶路撒冷無分、無權、無紀念。