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 to the king. Now, I had never been sad in his presence.

¹A stalo sa v mesiaci nísane dvadsiateho roku kráľa Artaxerxa, keď bolo víno pred ním, že som vzal víno a podal som kráľovi. A nebýval som smutný pred ním.

²And the king said to me, Why is thy face sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sadness of heart. And I was very sore afraid.

²Preto mi povedal kráľ: Prečo je smutná tvoja tvár, keď nie si nemocný? To nie je iné ako zármutok srdca. A bál som sa náramne.

³And I said to the king, Let the king live for ever! Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lies waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?

³Vtedy som povedal kráľovi: Nech žije kráľ na veky! Jako by nebola smutná moja tvár, keď je mesto, domovina hrobov mojich otcov, spustošené, a keď sú jeho brány strávené ohňom.

⁴And the king said to me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of the heavens.

⁴Na to mi povedal kráľ: O čože tedy žiadaš? A ja som sa medzi tým modlil Bohu nebies.

⁵And I said to the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.

⁵A povedal som kráľovi: Jestli sa to vidí kráľovi za dobré, a jestli sa ti ľúbi tvoj služobník, prosím, žeby si ma poslal do Judska, do mesta hrobov mojich otcov, aby som ho zase vystavil.

⁶And the king said to me -- the queen also sitting by him, -- For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

⁶A kráľ mi povedal (a kráľovná sedela vedľa neho): Dokedy potrvá tvoja cesta, a kedy sa navrátiš? A ľúbilo sa to kráľovi, a poslal ma a udal som mu istý čas.

⁷And I said to the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may set me forward till I come into Judah;

⁷Potom som povedal kráľovi: Jestli sa to vidí kráľovi za dobré, nech mi dajú listy na vojvodov za riekou, aby mi dali prejsť, dokiaľ neprijdem do Judska,

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 palace which [appertains] 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.

⁸jako aj list na Azafa, dozorcu kráľovho lesa, aby mi dal drevo pokryť hradami brány hradu, ktorý patrí domu Božiemu, a pre múry mesta a pre dom, do ktorého vojdem. A kráľ mi dal všetko podľa toho, jako bola dobrá ruka môjho Boha nado mnou.

⁹And I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of a force and horsemen with me.

⁹A tak som prišiel k vojvodom za riekou a oddal som im listy kráľove. A kráľ poslal so mnou i veliteľov vojska i jazdcov.

¹⁰And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, heard [of it], it grieved them exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

¹⁰A keď to počul Sanballat Choronský a Tobiáš, ammonský sluha, náramne sa im to neľúbilo, že prišiel človek hľadať dobré synov Izraelových.

¹¹And I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

¹¹A keď som prišiel do Jeruzalema, pobudol som tam tri dni.

¹²And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me -- but I told no man what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem -- and there was no beast with me, except the beast that I rode upon.

¹²Potom som vstal vnoci ja a niekoľko málo mužov so mnou a neoznámil som nikomu, čo dal môj Bôh do môjho srdca, aby som vykonal pre Jeruzalem, a nemal som so sebou hoväda krome hoväda, na ktorom som jazdil.

¹³And I went out by night by the valley-gate, even toward the jackal-fountain, and to the dung-gate; and I viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were in ruins, and its gates were consumed with fire.

¹³A vyšiel som bránou Údolia vnoci, a to von proti Dračej studni a ku Hnojnej bráne a obhliadal som múry Jeruzalema, ktoré boly miestami sborené, a jeho brány boly strávené ohňom.

¹⁴And I went on to the fountain-gate, and to the king's pool; and there was no place for the beast under me to pass.

¹⁴A prešiel som k Studničnej bráne a k rybníku kráľovmu; ale tam nebolo miesta pre hovädo, aby bolo prešlo podo mnou.

¹⁵And I went up in the night through the valley, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the valley-gate and returned.

¹⁵A tak som išiel hore dolinou potoka vnoci a obhliadal som múr. Potom som sa vrátil a vošiel som bránou Údolia a tak som sa navrátil.

¹⁶And the rulers did not know whither I went or what I did, for I had not 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.

¹⁶Ale pohlavári od správy nevedeli, kde som chodil alebo čo som robil, ani som toho dovtedy nebol oznámil ani Židom ani kňazom ani popredným ani pohlavárom ani ostatku tých, ktorí konali prácu.

¹⁷And I said to them, Ye see the distress that we are in, that Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

¹⁷A tak som im povedal: Vy vidíte to zlé, v ktorom sme, že Jeruzalem je spustošený, a že jeho brány sú zničené ohňom. Poďte a vystavme múr Jeruzalema a nebuďme ďalej potupou.

¹⁸And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me; as also of the king's words which he had said unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. And they strengthened their hands for the good [work].

¹⁸A keď som im oznámil o dobrej ruke svojho Boha, ktorá bola nado mnou, a k tomu aj slová kráľove, ktoré mi povedal, riekli: Vstaneme a vystavíme! A tak posilnili svoje ruky na dobré.

¹⁹And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it; and they mocked us and despised us, and said, What is this thing which ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

¹⁹A keď to počul Sanballat Choronský a Tobiáš, ammonský sluha, a Gešem Arabský, posmievali sa nám, pohŕdali nami a vraveli: Čože je to jaká vec, ktorú to tu robíte? Či sa azda chcete sprotiviť kráľovi?

²⁰And I answered them, and said to them, The God of the heavens, he will prosper us, and we his servants will arise and build; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.

²⁰A ja som im odpovedal a riekol som im: Bôh nebies je to, ktorý nám dá, aby sa nám to podarilo, a my, jeho služobníci, vstaneme a vystavíme. Ale vy nemáte dielu ani práva ani pamiatky v Jeruzaleme.