¹In nastalo je veliko vpitje ljudstva in njih žen zoper svoje brate, Jude.

¹And there is a great cry of the people and their wives, concerning their brethren the Jews,

²Nekateri so namreč bili, ki so dejali: Naših sinov in naših hčerá, nas je veliko: moramo dobiti žita, da jemo in ostanemo živi.

²yea, there are who are saying, `Our sons, and our daughters, we — are many, and we receive corn, and eat, and live.`

³In nekateri so bili, ki so govorili: Morali smo zastaviti njive svoje, vinograde in hiše svoje, da smo dobili žita ob tej draginji.

³And there are who are saying, `Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, we are pledging, and we receive corn for the famine.`

⁴Nekateri pa so dejali: Izposodili smo si denarja na svoje njive in vinograde za davke kralju.

⁴And there are who are saying, `We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, [on] our fields, and our vineyards;

⁵Vendar pa je telo naše kakor naših bratov telo in naši otroci so kakor njih otroci. In glej, moramo deti sinove in hčere svoje pod jarem sužnosti, in nekatere naše hčere so že pod jarmom, in ni v moči naših rok, da jih odkupimo; saj imajo drugi njive in vinograde naše.

⁵and now, as the flesh of our brethren [is] our flesh, as their sons [are] our sons, and lo, we are subduing our sons and our daughters for servants, and there are of our daughters subdued, and our hand hath no might, and our fields and our vineyards [are] to others.`

⁶Ko sem pa slišal njih vpitje in take besede, sem se silno razsrdil.

⁶And it is very displeasing to me when I have heard their cry and these words,

⁷In posvetoval sem se sam pri sebi v srcu ter potem okaral plemenitnike in načelnike in jim dejal: Vi lihvarite, vsak proti bratu svojemu! In priredil sem veliko zborovanje zoper nje

⁷and my heart reigneth over me, and I strive with the freemen, and with the prefects, and say to them, `Usury one upon another ye are exacting;` and I set against them a great assembly,

⁸in jim dejal: Mi smo odkupili, kolikor smo jih mogli, brate svoje, Jude, ki so bili prodani poganom. Vi pa hočete prodajati brate svoje? in nam li naj se prodado? Nato so molčali in niso vedeli odgovoriti.

⁸and say to them, `We have acquired our brethren the Jews, those sold to the nations, according to the ability that [is] in us, and ye also sell your brethren, and they have been sold to us!` and they are silent, and have not found a word.

⁹Še sem rekel: Kar delate, ni dobro. Ne bi li imeli hoditi v strahu Boga našega, da ne bodemo v zasmeh poganom, sovražnikom svojim?

⁹And I say, `Not good [is] the thing that ye are doing; in the fear of our God do ye not walk, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?

¹⁰Pa tudi jaz, bratje moji in hlapci moji, smo jim posodili denarja in žita za obresti. Prosim vas, odpustímo jim to posojilo!

¹⁰And also, I, my brethren, and my servants, are exacting of them silver and corn; let us leave off, I pray you, this usury.

¹¹Povrnite jim, prosim, še danes njih njive in vinograde, njih oljkove vrte in hiše in stotnino denarja in žita, vina in olja, ki ste ga jim posojali na obresti.

¹¹Give back, I pray you, to them, as to-day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, and the hundredth [part] of the money, and of the corn, of the new wine, and of the oil, that ye are exacting of them.`

¹²Tedaj reko: Povrnemo jim in ne bomo jih terjali za nič, ampak hočemo storiti, kakor praviš. Nato pokličem duhovnike in jih zavežem s prisego, da store po tej obljubi.

¹²And they say, `We give back, and of them we seek nothing; so we do as thou art saying.` And I call the priests, and cause them to swear to do according to this thing;

¹³Iztresel sem tudi nedrije svoje, rekoč: Tako iztresi Bog vsakega, ki ne izpolni te obljube, iz hiše njegove in s posla njegovega, in tako bodi iztresen in prazen! In ves zbor je dejal: Amen! in so hvalili GOSPODA. In ljudstvo je storilo po tej obljubi.

¹³also, my lap I have shaken, and I say, `Thus doth God shake out every man, who doth not perform this thing, from his house, and from his labour; yea, thus is he shaken out and empty;` and all the assembly say, `Amen,` and praise Jehovah; and the people do according to this thing.

¹⁴Tudi od časa, ko mi je bilo ukazano, naj bodem njih deželni poglavar v deželi Judovi, namreč od dvajsetega do dvaintridesetega leta kralja Artakserksa, dvanajst let, nisem živil sebe in bratov svojih s poglavarjevim živežem.

¹⁴Also, from the day that he appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the thirty and second year of Artaxerxes the king — twelve years — I, and my brethren, the bread of the governor have not eaten:

¹⁵Ali prejšnji deželni oblastniki, ki so bili pred menoj, so nadlegovali ljudstvo in so jemali od njih živeža in vina, vrhutega po štirideset seklov srebra, in še njih hlapci so samovoljno gospodovali ljudstvu. A jaz nisem ravnal tako, zaradi Božjega strahu.

¹⁵the former governors who [are] before me have made themselves heavy on the people, and take of them in bread and wine, besides in silver forty shekels; also, their servants have ruled over the people — and I have not done so, because of the fear of God.

¹⁶Pa tudi dela na zidu sem se udeležil, in njive nismo nobene kupili in vsi moji hlapci so ondi morali prihajati na delo.

¹⁶And also, in the work of this wall I have done mightily, even a field we have not bought, and all my servants are gathered there for the work;

¹⁷Vrhutega so jedli pri moji mizi Judje in načelniki, sto in petdeset mož, in tisti, ki so k nam dohajali izmed poganov v okolišu.

¹⁷and of the Jews, and of the prefects, a hundred and fifty men, and those coming in unto us of the nations that [are] round about us, [are] at my table;

¹⁸In pripravili so mi vsak dan: enega vola in šest izbranih ovac, tudi perotnine so mi pripravljali in enkrat v desetih dneh zalogo vsakovrstnega vina; pri vsem tem nisem zahteval živeža deželnega oblastnika, ker služba je hudo težila ljudstvo.Spominjaj se mi, o Bog moj, v dobro vsega, kar sem storil za to ljudstvo.

¹⁸and that which hath been prepared for one day [is] one ox, six fat sheep, also fowls have been prepared for me, and once in ten days of all wines abundantly, and with this, the bread of the governor I have not sought, for heavy is the service on this people.

¹⁹Spominjaj se mi, o Bog moj, v dobro vsega, kar sem storil za to ljudstvo.

¹⁹Remember for me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people.