Neemias 2

Ka Tonoa a Nehemia ki Hūrā

1 Heoi, i te marama Nihana i te rua tekau o ngā tau o Kīngi Arataherehe, i te mea he wāina i tōna aroaro, ka hāpainga ake e ahau te wāina, hoatu ana ki te kīngi. Kāhore hoki ahau i pōuri i mua atu i tōna aroaro. 2 Nā, ka mea te kīngi ki ahau, "He aha tōu kanohi i pōuri ai, kāhore nei hoki ōu mate? Ehara tēnei i te mea kē atu i te pōuri o te ngākau."

Nā, nui atu tōku wehi. 3 Anō rā ko ahau ki te kīngi, "Kia ora tonu te kīngi; he aha tōku mata i kore ai e pōuri, i te mea kua ururuatia te pā, te whare o ngā tanumanga o ōku mātua, ā, kua pau ōna kēti i te ahi?"

4 Anō rā ko te kīngi ki ahau, "He aha te mea ka tonoa nei e koe?"

Heoi, ko tāku īnoinga ki te Atua o te rangi. 5 Nā, ka kī atu ahau ki te kīngi, "Ki te pai te kīngi, ki te mea hoki e paingia ana tāu pononga i tōu aroaro, kia ungā ahau e koe ki Hūrā, ki te pā o ngā tanumanga o ōku mātua, kia hangā ai e ahau."

6 Nā, ka mea te kīngi ki ahau (i tōna taha anō hoki te kuīni e noho ana), "Kia pēhea te roa ōu ka haere nei, ā, hei āhea koe hoki mai ai?" Nā, kua pai ki te kīngi kia ungā ahau, ā, whakaritea ana e ahau he wā ki a ia.

7 I mea anō ahau ki te kīngi, "Ki te pai te kīngi, me hōmai he pukapuka ki ahau ki ngā kāwana i tāwāhi o te awa, kia tukua ahau e rātou kia puta atu ā tae noa ki Hūrā; 8 he pukapuka anō hoki ki a Āhapa, kaitiaki o te ngahere a te kīngi, kia hōmai e ia ētahi rākau ki ahau hei hanga mō ngā kurupae o ngā kēti o te nohoanga rangatira i te whare, mō te taiepa hoki o te pā, mō te whare hoki e haere atu ai ahau." Nā, ka hōmai e te kīngi ki ahau; i rite tonu ki tā te ringa pai o tōku Atua i runga i ahau.

9 Kātahi ka haere ahau ki ngā kāwana i tērā taha o te awa, hoatu ana e ahau ngā pukapuka a te kīngi ki a rātou. I ungā anō e te kīngi ētahi rangatira hōia, me ētahi hōia eke hōiho hei hoa mōku. 10 Ā, nō te rongonga o Hanaparata Horoni rāua ko te pononga, ko Tōpia Āmoni, nui rawa te kino i kino ai ki a rāua, nō te mea kua tae he tangata hei rapu i te pai mō ngā tama a Īharaira.

Tā Nehemia Tirotirohanga i ngā Taiepa

11 Heoi, kua tae ahau ki Hiruhārama, ā, e toru ōku rā ki reira. 12 Nā, ka maranga ahau i te pō, mātou ko ētahi tāngata torutoru hei hoa mōku; kīhai hoki i kōrerotia e ahau ki tētahi tā tōku Atua i hōmai ai ki tōku ngākau kia meatia ki Hiruhārama. Kāhore hoki ōku kararehe; heoi anō ko te kararehe i eke ai ahau.

13 I haere anō ahau i te pō i te Kūwaha o te Raorao, ki te ritenga o te puna tarakona, ki te Kūwaha Paru anō hoki, ā, tirotirohia iho e ahau ngā taiepa o Hiruhārama kua pakaru nei me ōna kēti kua pau nei i te ahi. 14 Kātahi ahau ka haere ki te Kūwaha o te Puna, ki te poka wai anō a te kīngi; heoi kāhore he wāhi e haere atu ai te kararehe e waha ana i ahau. 15 Nā, piki ana ahau i te awaawa i te pō, tirotirohia ana e ahau te taiepa. Nā, tahuri ana ahau, tomo ana nā te Kūwaha o te Raorao, hoki ana. 16 Heoi, kīhai ngā rangatira i mōhio e haere ana rānei ahau ki hea, he aha rānei tāku e mea nei; kāhore anō kia kōrerotia noatia e ahau ki ngā Hūrai, ki ngā tohunga, ki ngā tino tāngata, ki ngā rangatira, ki tērā atu hunga rānei i mahi nei i ngā mahi.

Te Whakaritenga kia Whakahou ngā Taiepa

17 Kātahi ka mea ahau ki a rātou, "Ka kite koutou i te nui o tō tātou aituā, ko Hiruhārama kua ururuatia, ko ōna kēti kua wera i te ahi. Haere mai, tātou ka hanga i te taiepa o Hiruhārama; kei waiho tonu tātou hei tāwainga." 18 Nā, ka kōrerotia e ahau ki a rātou te ringa o tōku Atua i pai nei ki runga i ahau, me ngā kupu a te kīngi i kōrerotia ki ahau.

Nā, ka mea rātou, "Tātou ka whakatika, ka hanga." Heoi, kei te whakakaha rātou i ō rātou ringa mō tēnei mahi pai.

19 I te rongonga ia o Hanaparata Horoni, rātou ko te pononga, ko Tōpia Āmoni, ko Keheme Ārapi, ka whakahī mai rātou ki a mātou, ka whakahāwea ki a mātou, ka mea, "He aha tēnei mea ka meatia nei e koutou? Ka whakakeke rānei koutou ki te kīngi?"

20 Kātahi ka whakahoki ahau ki a rātou, ka mea ki a rātou, "Ko te Atua o te rangi, māna e tika ai tā mātou. Nā, ka whakatika mātou, āna tāngata, ka hanga. Ko koutou ia, kāhore he wāhi, he tikanga, he maharatanga rānei, i Hiruhārama."

1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. 2 And the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid. 3 And I said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? 4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. 6 And the king said unto me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through till I come unto Judah; 8 and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth 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.

9 Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen. 10 And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. 11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 13 And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal’s well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. 14 Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. 15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned. 16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I 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.

17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also of the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? 20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.