Liber Nehemiae

Nehemiae, chapter 2, Vulgate and King James Version

Chapter 2 Vulgate

   1 Factum est autem in mense Nisan, anno vicesimo Artaxerxis regis, dum biberet, levavi vinum et dedi regi; non enim eram ingratus coram eo.
   2 Dixitque mihi rex: "Quare vultus tuus tristis est, cum te aegrotum non videam? Nihil est aliud nisi tristitia cordis". Et timui valde
   3 et dixi regi: "Rex, in aeternum vive! Quare non maereat vultus meus, quia civitas sepulcrorum patrum meorum deserta est, et portae eius combustae sunt igne?".
   4 Et ait mihi rex: "Pro qua re postulas?". Et oravi Deum caeli
   5 et dixi ad regem: "Si videtur regi bonum, et si placet servus tuus ante faciem tuam, ut mittas me in Iudaeam ad civitatem sepulcrorum patrum meorum, et aedificabo eam".
   6 Dixitque mihi rex, et regina sedebat iuxta eum: "Usque ad quod tempus erit iter tuum, et quando reverteris?". Et placuit regi mittere me; et constitui ei tempus.
   7 Et dixi regi: "Si regi videtur bonum, epistulae dentur mihi ad duces regionis trans flumen, ut me transire permittant, donec veniam in Iudaeam;
   8 et epistulam ad Asaph custodem saltus regis, ut det mihi ligna, ut contignare possim portas turris domus et muri civitatis et domus, in qua habitabo". Et dedit mihi rex, quia manus Dei mei bona super me.
   9 Et veni ad duces regionis trans flumen dedique eis epistulas regis. Miserat autem rex mecum principes militum et equites.
   10 Et audierunt Sanaballat Horonites et Thobias servus Ammanites et contristati sunt afflictione magna, quod venisset homo, qui quaereret prosperitatem filiorum Israel.
   11 Et veni Ierusalem et eram ibi tribus diebus.
   12 Et surrexi nocte ego, et viri pauci mecum, et non indicavi cuiquam quid Deus meus dedisset in corde meo, ut facerem in Ierusalem; et iumentum non erat mecum, nisi animal cui sedebam.
   13 Et egressus sum per portam Vallis nocte et ad fontem Draconis et portam Sterquilinii et considerabam murum Ierusalem dissipatum et portas eius consumptas igne.
   14 Et transivi ad portam Fontis et ad piscinam Regis, et non erat locus iumento cui sedebam, ut transiret.
   15 Et ascendi per torrentem nocte et considerabam murum; et iterum veni ad portam Vallis et reversus sum.
   16 Magistratus autem nesciebant quo abissem aut quid ego facerem, sed et Iudaeis et sacerdotibus et optimatibus et magistratibus et reliquis, qui faciebant opus, usque ad id loci nihil indicaveram.
   17 Et dixi eis: "Vos nostis afflictionem, in qua sumus, quia Ierusalem deserta est, et portae eius consumptae sunt igne; venite et aedificemus murum Ierusalem et non simus ultra opprobrium".
   18 Et indicavi eis quod manus Dei mei bona esset super me et verba regis, quae locutus esset mihi, et dixerunt: "Surgamus et aedificemus!". Et confortatae sunt manus eorum in bonum.
   19 Audierunt autem Sanaballat Horonites et Thobias servus Ammanites et Gosem Arabs et subsannaverunt nos et despexerunt dixeruntque: "Quae est haec res, quam facitis? Numquid contra regem vos rebellatis?".
   20 Et dedi eis responsum dicens: "Deus caeli ipse nos facit prosperari, et nos servi eius sumus; surgamus et aedificemus. Vobis autem non est pars et ius et memoria in Ierusalem".

Source: Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio, Sacrosanti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II, Ratione Habita, Iussu Pauli PP. VI Recognita, Auctoritate Ioannis Pauli PP. II Promulgata, Editio Typica Altera

King James Version

   1 And 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.
   2 Wherefore 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,
   3 And 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?
   4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
   5 And 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.
   6 And 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.
   7 Moreover 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;
   8 And 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.
   10 When 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.
   11 So 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.
   13 And 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.
   14 Then 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.
   15 Then 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.
   16 And 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.
   18 Then 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.
   19 But 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?
   20 Then 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.