¹Tisti čas se je čitalo pred ušesi ljudstva v knjigi Mojzesovi, in se je našlo pisano v njej, da ne sme Amonec in Moabec priti v zbor Božji vekomaj,

¹On that day there was read in the book of Moses, in the ears of the people, and it hath been found written in it that an Ammonite and Moabite doth not come into the assembly of God — unto the age,

²zato ker niso prišli naproti sinovom Izraelovim s kruhom in z vodo, temuč so zoper nje najeli Balaama, da bi jih proklel; toda naš Bog je kletev preobrnil v blagoslov.

²because they have not come before the sons of Israel with bread and with water, and hire against them Balaam to revile them, and our God turneth the reviling into a blessing.

³In ko so slišali postavo, so ločili izmed Izraela vse mešano ljudstvo.

³And it cometh to pass, at their hearing the law, that they separate all the mixed people from Israel.

⁴Pred tem pa je duhovnik Eliasib, ki je bil postavljen nad shrambami hiše našega Boga, ker je bil po rodu zvezan s Tobijem,

⁴And before this Eliashib the priest, appointed over chambers of the house of our God, [is] a relation of Tobiah,

⁵pripravil njemu veliko shrambo, kamor so bili poprej polagali jedilne daritve, kadilo in posode in desetine žita, vina in olja, po zapovedi pristojne levitom, pevcem in vratarjem, tudi dari povzdignjenja za duhovnike.

⁵and he maketh for him a great chamber, and there they were formerly putting the present, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithe of the corn, the new wine, and the oil — the commanded thing of the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers — and the heave-offering of the priests.

⁶Ali ob vsem tem nisem bil v Jeruzalemu. Zakaj v dvaintridesetem letu Artakserksa, kralja babilonskega, sem šel h kralju; in čez nekoliko dni sem si izprosil dopust od kralja,

⁶And during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty and second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon did I come unto the king, and at the end of days I have asked of the king,

⁷in ko sem dospel v Jeruzalem, sem opazil zlo, ki ga je bil storil Eliasib Tobiju na voljo s tem, da mu je pripravil shrambo na dvorišču hiše Božje.

⁷and I come in to Jerusalem, and understand concerning the evil that Eliashib hath done for Tobiah, to make to him a chamber in the courts of the house of God,

⁸In bilo mi je silno žal, in sem pometal vse stvari hiše Tobijeve iz shrambe.

⁸and it is very displeasing to me, and I cast all the vessels of the house of Tobiah without, out of the chamber,

⁹Nato sem ukazal, in očistili so shrambe, in sem zopet vanje znosil posode hiše Božje, jedilne daritve in kadilo.

⁹and I speak, and they cleanse the chambers, and I bring back thither the vessels of the house of God with the present and the frankincense.

¹⁰In zvedel sem, da niso dajali levitom njih deležev, in da so se zato umeknili leviti in pevci, ki so opravljali posel, vsak na svojo njivo.

¹⁰And I know that the portions of the Levites have not been given, and they flee each to his field — the Levites and the singers, doing the work.

¹¹Tedaj sem okaral načelnike in sem dejal: Zakaj je zapuščena hiša Božja? In sklical sem one ter jih postavil na njih mesto.

¹¹And I strive with the prefects, and say, `Wherefore hath the house of God been forsaken?` and I gather them, and set them on their station;

¹²Tedaj je prinesel ves Juda desetino žita in vina in olja v založne shrambe.

¹²and all Judah have brought in the tithe of the corn, and of the new wine, and of the oil, to the treasuries.

¹³In za paznike nad zalogami sem postavil Selemija duhovnika in Zadoka pismouka in izmed levitov Pedaja in njim v pomoč Hanana, sina Zakurja, sinu Matanija; zakaj oni so bili šteti za zveste, in bilo jim je poverjeno, da delijo svojim bratom.

¹³And I appoint treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites; and by their hand [is] Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for stedfast they have been reckoned, and on them [it is] to give a portion to their brethren.

¹⁴Spominjaj se mi tega, o Bog moj, in ne izbriši mojih del usmiljenja, ki sem jih storil pri Boga svojega hiši in za postrežbo pri njej.

¹⁴Be mindful of me, O my God, for this, and do not blot out my kind acts that I have done, for the house of my God, and for its charges.

¹⁵Tisti čas sem videl v Judeji, da so nekateri ob soboti tlačili tlačilnice in spravljali snopovje in ž njimi obkladali osle, pa tudi z vinom, z grozdjem in s smokvami in z vsakršnimi tovori, ki so jih prinašali v Jeruzalem ob sobotnem dnevi. In posvaril sem jih tisti dan, ko so prodajali živež.

¹⁵In those days I have seen in Judah those treading wine-vats on sabbath, and bringing in the sheaves, and lading on the asses, and also, wine, grapes, and figs, and every burden, yea, they are bringing in to Jerusalem on the sabbath-day, and I testify in the day of their selling provision.

¹⁶Tudi so prebivali v mestu Tirci, ki so prinašali ribe in različno blago ter prodajali ob sobotah sinovom Judovim in v Jeruzalemu.

¹⁶And the Tyrians have dwelt in it, bringing in fish, and every ware, and selling on sabbath to the sons of Judah and in Jerusalem.

¹⁷Tedaj sem okaral plemenitnike Judove in jim dejal: Kakšna je to huda razvada, ki jo imate, da oskrunjate sobotni dan?

¹⁷And I strive with the freemen of Judah, and say to them, `What [is] this evil thing that ye are doing, and polluting the sabbath-day?

¹⁸Niso li vaši očetje delali tudi tako, in ni li spravil Bog naš vseh teh nesreč nad nas in nad to mesto? In vi pripravljate še več srda nad Izraela s tem, da oskrunjate soboto!

¹⁸Thus did not your fathers do? and our God bringeth in on us all this evil, and on this city, and ye are adding fierceness on Israel, to pollute the sabbath.`

¹⁹In ko se je začelo mračiti med vrati Jeruzalema pred soboto, velel sem, naj zapro duri, in naročil, da jih smejo odpreti šele po soboti; in nekatere svoje hlapce sem postavil, da bi se ne prinesla nobena butara v mesto ob sobotnem dnevi.

¹⁹And it cometh to pass, when the gates of Jerusalem have been dark before the sabbath, that I speak, and the doors are shut, and I say, that they do not open them till after the sabbath; and of my servants I have stationed at the gates; there doth not come in a burden on the sabbath-day.

²⁰Tedaj so kramarji in prodajalci raznovrstnega blaga ostali čez noč zunaj pred Jeruzalemom, enkrat ali dvakrat.

²⁰And they lodge — the merchants and sellers of all ware — at the outside of Jerusalem, once or twice,

²¹In okaral sem jih in jim dejal: Zakaj ostajate čez noč okoli obzidja? Ako še enkrat to storite, položim na vas roko! Od tega časa niso več prišli v soboto.

²¹and I testify against them, and say unto them, `Wherefore are ye lodging over-against the wall? if ye repeat [it], a hand I put forth upon you;` from that time they have not come in on the sabbath.

²²In ukazal sem levitom, naj se očistijo in pridejo stražit vrata, da bi se sobotni dan posvečeval. Tudi tega se mi spominjaj, o Bog moj, in prizanesi mi po veliki milosti svoji!

²²And I say to the Levites, that they be cleansed, and, coming in, keeping the gates, to sanctify the sabbath-day. Also, this, remember for me, O my God, and have pity on me, according to the abundance of Thy kindness.

²³Tudi sem videl v tistem času Jude, ki so se poročili z ženami iz Asdoda, Amona in Moaba;

²³Also, in those days, I have seen the Jews [who] have settled women of Ashdod, of Ammon, of Moab.

²⁴in njih otroci so polovico govorili asdotski in niso znali po judovsko, temuč govorili so po jeziku tega ali onega ljudstva.

²⁴And of their sons, half are speaking Ashdoditish — and are not knowing to speak Jewish — and according to the language of people and people.

²⁵In sem jih karal in klel ter nekatere izmed njih sem tepel in jim ruval lase, in velel sem jim priseči pri Bogu, da ne bodo dajali hčer svojih njih sinovom, ne jemali njih hčer sinom svojim ali sami sebi.

²⁵And I strive with them, and declare them vile, and smite certain of them, and pluck off their hair, and cause them to swear by God, `Ye do not give your daughters to their sons, nor do ye take of their daughters to your sons, and to yourselves.

²⁶Ni li grešil zaradi tujk Salomon, kralj Izraelov? In vendar mu ni bilo med mnogimi narodi enakega kralja, in ljub je bil svojemu Bogu, in Bog ga je postavil za kralja vsemu Izraelu: a celo njega so zapeljale tuje žene v greh!

²⁶`By these did not Solomon king of Israel sin? and among the many nations there was no king like him, and beloved by his God he was, and God maketh him king over all Israel — even him did the strange women cause to sin.

²⁷In naj li poslušamo vas, ki delate tako veliko zlo in nezvesto ravnate zoper Boga svojega, ko se poročate z drugorodnimi ženami?

²⁷And to you do we hearken to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God, to settle strange women?`

²⁸In eden izmed sinov Jojada, sinu Eliasibovega, velikega duhovnika se je bil posvačil s Sanbalatom Horončanom; zato sem ga odgnal od sebe.

²⁸And [one] of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest, [is] son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, and I cause him to flee from off me.

²⁹Spominjaj se jih, o Bog moj, da so onečistili duhovništvo in zavezo duhovništva in levitov!

²⁹Be mindful of them, O my God, for the redeemed of the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.

³⁰Tako sem jih očistil vsega tujega in postavil službena opravila duhovnikov in levitov, vsakega k svojemu poslu,in sem oskrbel, da se prinašajo drva ob določenih časih in prvine. Spominjaj se me, o Bog moj, meni v dobro!

³⁰And I have cleansed them from every stranger, and appoint charges to priests and to Levites, each in his work,

³¹in sem oskrbel, da se prinašajo drva ob določenih časih in prvine. Spominjaj se me, o Bog moj, meni v dobro!

³¹and for the wood-offering at appointed times, and for first-fruits. Be mindful of me, O my God, for good.