¹Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel;

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

²then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as you do; and we sacrifice to him since the days of Esar Haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”

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?

³But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel, said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

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!

⁴Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

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

⁵and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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

⁶In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

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

⁷In the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in Syrian, and set forth in the Syrian language.

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.

⁸Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:

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

⁹then Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites, the Elamites,

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

¹⁰and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River, and so forth, wrote.

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.)

¹¹This is the copy of the letter that they sent to Artaxerxes the king: Your servants the men beyond the River, and so forth.

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

¹²Be it known to the king, that the Jews who came up from you have come to us to Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and have finished the walls, and repaired the foundations.

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.

¹³Be it known now to the king that if this city is built, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings.

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.

¹⁴Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not appropriate for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore have we sent and informed the king;

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

¹⁵that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers: so you shall find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time; for which cause was this city laid waste.

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.

¹⁶We inform the king that, if this city be built, and the walls finished, by this means you shall have no portion beyond the River.

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

¹⁷Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River: Peace, and so forth.

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.

¹⁸The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.

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

¹⁹I decreed, and search has been made, and it is found that this city of old time has made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.

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.

²⁰There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, custom, and toll, was paid to them.

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

²¹Make a decree now to cause these men to cease, and that this city not be built, until a decree shall be made by me.

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

²²Take heed that you not be slack herein: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

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

²³Then when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.

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.

²⁴Then ceased the work of God’s house which is at Jerusalem; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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