¹Ko so pa slišali nasprotniki Judovi in Benjaminovi, da grade sinovi ujetništva tempelj GOSPODU, Bogu Izraelovemu,

¹And adversaries of Judah and Benjamin hear that the sons of the captivity are building a temple to Jehovah, God of Israel,

²pristopijo k Zerubabelu in k poglavarjem očetovin in jim reko: Naj zidamo z vami, kajti mi iščemo vašega Boga prav tako kot vi. Ali mu ne darujemo od časa Esar-hadona, kralja asirskega, ki nas je pripeljal sem gori?

²and they draw nigh unto Zerubbabel, and unto heads of the fathers, and say to them, `Let us build with you; for, like you, we seek to your God, and we are not sacrificing since the days of Esar-Haddon king of Asshur, who brought us up hither.`

³Toda Zerubabel in Jesua in drugi poglavarji Izraelovih očetovin jim reko: Ne spodobi se vam, da z nami zidate hišo našemu Bogu, temuč mi sami hočemo zidati GOSPODU, Bogu Izraelovemu, kakor nam je zapovedal kralj Cir, kralj Perzije!

³And Zerubbabel saith to them, also Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel, `Not for you, and for us, to build a house to our God; but we ourselves together do build to Jehovah God of Israel, as the king Cyrus, king of Persia, commanded us.`

⁴Tedaj je ljudstvo dežele slabilo roke ljudstvu Judovemu ter jih s strašenjem motilo pri zidanju.

⁴And it cometh to pass, the people of the land are making the hands of the people of Judah feeble, and troubling them in building,

⁵In najemali so svetnike zoper nje, da podkopljejo njih namero, vse dni Cira, kralja perzijskega, do kraljevanja Darija, kralja Perzije.

⁵and are hiring against them counsellors to make void their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even till the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶In ob vladanju Ahasvera, v začetku njegovega kraljevanja, so tožbo pisali zoper prebivalce na Judovem in v Jeruzalemu.

⁶And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the commencement of his reign, they have written an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem;

⁷In v dnevih Artakserksa so pisali Bislam, Mitredat, Tabeel in drugi njegovi tovariši Artakserksu, kralju v Perziji. In pisava pisma je bila sirska in po sirsko se je bralo.

⁷and in the days of Artaxerxes have Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions written unto Artaxerxes king of Persia, and the writing of the letter is written in Aramaean, and interpreted in Aramaean.

⁸Rehum, deželni poglavar, in Simsaj, pisar, sta napisala pismo zoper Jeruzalem kralju Artakserksu takole:

⁸Rehum counsellor, and Shimshai scribe have written a letter concerning Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king, thus:

⁹(Takrat so pisali Rehum, deželni poglavar, in Simsaj, pisar, in drugi njih tovariši, Dinaji, Afarsatkaji, Tarpelaji, Afarsaji, Arkovci, Babilonci, Susančani, Dehaji, Elamljani

⁹Then Rehum counsellor, and Shimshai scribe, and the rest of their companions, Dinaites, and Apharsathchites, Tarpelites, Apharsites, Archevites, Babylonians, Susanchites, (who are Elamites),

¹⁰in drugi tistih narodov, ki jih je veliki in presvetli Oznapar sem pripeljal in jih naselil v mestih Samarije in v ostali deželi na tej strani reke Evfrata, in tako dalje.)

¹⁰and the rest of the nations that the great and honourable Asnapper removed and set in the city of Samaria, and the rest beyond the river, and at such a time:

¹¹To je prepis lista, ki so ga poslali Artakserksu kralju: Tvoji hlapci, možje tostran reke, in tako dalje.

¹¹This [is] a copy of a letter that they have sent unto him, unto Artaxerxes the king: `Thy servants, men beyond the river, and at such a time;

¹²Znano bodi kralju, da so Judje, ki so prišli gori od tebe, dospeli k nam v Jeruzalem; oni zidajo tisto uporno in hudobno mesto in izpolnjujejo obzidje ter popravljajo podstave.

¹²Be it known to the king, that the Jews who have come up from thee unto us, have come in to Jerusalem, the rebellious and base city they are building, and the walls they have finished, and the foundations they join.

¹³Znano torej bodi kralju: ako bode to mesto dozidano in obzidje dovršeno, ne bodo dajali davkov, ne užitnine, ne cestnine, in to naposled oškoduje kralja.

¹³`Now, be it known to the king, that if this city be builded, and the walls finished, toll, tribute, and custom they do not give; and at length [to] the kings it doth cause loss.

¹⁴Zatorej, ker jemo sol palače, ne smemo gledati škode kraljeve, pa pošiljamo h kralju in mu to poročamo,

¹⁴Now, because that the salt of the palace [is] our salt, and the nakedness of the king we have no patience to see, therefore we have sent and made known to the king;

¹⁵naj se poišče v spominski knjigi očetov tvojih; in najdeš v knjigi spominov in izveš, da je to mesto uporno mesto in škodljivo kraljem in deželam ter da so se v njem snovale vstaje od starodavna; zategadelj je tudi bilo to mesto porušeno.

¹⁵so that he doth seek in the book of the records of thy fathers, and thou dost find in the book of the records, and dost know, that this city [is] a rebellious city, and causing loss [to] kings and provinces, and makers of sedition [are] in its midst from the days of old, therefore hath this city been wasted.

¹⁶Zagotavljamo kralja, ako se to mesto dozida in obzidje dovrši, da ne boš vsled tega imel nobene posesti tostran reke. –

¹⁶We are making known to the king that, if this city be builded and the walls finished, by this means a portion beyond the river thou hast none.`

¹⁷Nato pošlje kralj odgovor Rehumu, deželnemu poglavarju, in Simsaju, pisarju, in drugim njih tovarišem, ki prebivajo v Samariji in drugih krajih tostran reke: Mir! in tako dalje.

¹⁷An answer hath the king sent unto Rehum counsellor, and Shimshai scribe, and the rest of their companions who are dwelling in Samaria, and the rest beyond the river, `Peace, and at such a time:

¹⁸List, ki ste ga nam poslali, se je umljivo bral pred menoj.

¹⁸The letter that ye sent unto us, explained, hath been read before me,

¹⁹In velel sem, naj se preišče, in našlo se je, da je tisto mesto rovalo zoper kralje od starodavna ter da so upore in vstaje snovali v njem.

¹⁹and by me a decree hath been made, and they sought, and have found that this city from the days of old against kings is lifting up itself, and rebellion and sedition is made in it,

²⁰In bili so tudi mogočni kralji v Jeruzalemu, ki so gospodovali vsej deželi onostran reke, ki jim je bilo dajati davke, užitnino in cestnino.

²⁰and mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, even rulers over all beyond the river, and toll, tribute, and custom is given to them.

²¹Izdajte torej povelje, da se zabrani tistim možem in da se to mesto ne bo zidalo, dokler ne izide moje povelje.

²¹`Now, make ye a decree to cause these men to cease, and this city is not builded, till by me a decree is made.

²²In glejte, da ne storite v tem pomote; čemu naj raste škoda, da bodo kralji na izgubi?

²²And beware ye of negligence in doing this; why doth the hurt become great to the loss of the kings?`

²³ko se je opis lista kralja Artakserksa prečital pred Rehumom in Simsajem, pisarjem, in pred njih tovariši, so hitro šli gori v Jeruzalem k Judom in so jim branili z močno pestjo.Takrat je nehalo delo pri hiši Božji, ki je v Jeruzalemu, in bilo je ustavljeno do drugega leta vlade Darija, kralja Perzije.

²³Then from the time that a copy of the letter of king Artaxerxes is read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they have gone in haste to Jerusalem, unto the Jews, and caused them to cease by force and strength;

²⁴Takrat je nehalo delo pri hiši Božji, ki je v Jeruzalemu, in bilo je ustavljeno do drugega leta vlade Darija, kralja Perzije.

²⁴then ceased the service of the house of God that [is] in Jerusalem, and it ceased till the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.