The King's Commission
1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Ikawa katika mwezi wa Nisani, mwaka wa ishirini wa mfalme Artashasta, na divai imewekwa mbele yake, nikaishika ile divai, nikampa mfalme. Nami mpaka sasa sikuwa na huzuni mbele ya mfalme wakati wo wote.
2 Wherefore 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,
Basi mfalme akaniambia, Mbona umesikitika uso wako, nawe huna ugonjwa? Nini hii, isipokuwa ni huzuni ya moyo? Ndipo nikaogopa sana.
3 and 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?
Nikamwambia mfalme, Mfalme na aishi milele; kwani uso wangu usiwe na huzuni, iwapo mji, ulio mahali pa makaburi ya baba zangu, unakaa ukiwa, na malango yake yameteketezwa kwa moto?
4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Ndipo mfalme akaniambia, Una haja gani unayotaka kuniomba? Basi nikamwomba Mungu wa mbinguni.
5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
Nikamwambia mfalme, Mfalme akiona vema, na ikiwa mimi, mtumishi wako, nimepata kibali machoni pako, tafadhali unipeleke mpaka Yuda, niuendee mji wa makaburi ya baba zangu, nipate kuujenga.
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.
Mfalme akaniuliza, (malkia naye ameketi karibu naye), Safari yako itakuwa ya siku ngapi? Nawe utarudi lini? Hivyo mfalme akaona vema kunipeleka; nami nikampa muda.
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 convey me over till I come into Judah;
Tena nikamwambia mfalme, Mfalme akiona vema, na nipewe nyaraka kwa maliwali walio ng'ambo ya Mto, ili waniache kupita mpaka nifike Yuda;
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 palace which appertained 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.
nipewe na waraka kwa Asafu, mwenye kuutunza mwitu wa mfalme, ili anipe miti ya kufanyizia boriti kwa malango ya ngome ya nyumba, na kwa ukuta wa mji; na kwa nyumba ile nitakayoingia mimi. Naye mfalme akanipa, kama mkono mwema wa Mungu wangu ulivyokuwa juu yangu.
9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
Ndipo nikafika kwa maliwali walio ng'ambo ya Mto, nikawapa hizo nyaraka za mfalme. Naye mfalme alikuwa amepeleka maakida wa jeshi lake na wapanda farasi pamoja nami.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
Hata Sanbalati, Mhoroni, na Tobia, mtumishi wake, Mwamoni, waliposikia habari hizi, ziliwahuzunisha sana, kwa kuwa amekuja mtu kuwatakia heri wana wa Israeli.
11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
Basi nikafika Yerusalemu, nikakaa huko muda wa siku tatu.
Surveys Jerusalem
12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
Kisha nikaondoka usiku, mimi na watu wachache pamoja nami; wala sikumwambia mtu neno hili alilolitia Mungu wangu moyoni mwangu, nilitende kwa ajili ya Yerusalemu; wala hapakuwa na mnyama pamoja nami, ila mnyama yule niliyempanda mwenyewe.
13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
Nikatoka nje usiku, kwa njia ya lango la bondeni, nikashika njia iendayo kisima cha joka, na lango la jaa; nikazitazama kuta za Yerusalemu, zilizokuwa zimebomoka; na malango yake yameteketezwa kwa moto.
14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
Kisha nikaendelea mpaka lango la chemchemi, na ziwa la mfalme; lakini hapakuwa na nafasi ya kupita kwa yule mnyama aliyekuwa chini yangu.
15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
Kisha nikapanda usiku kando ya kijito, nikautazama ukuta; kisha nikarudi nyuma, nikaingia kwa lango la bondeni, nikarejea hivyo.
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.
Wala mashehe hawakujua nilikokwenda, wala nilivyotenda; wala sijawaambia Wayahudi, wala makuhani, wala wakuu, wala mashehe, wala watu wengine waliokuwa wakiifanya kazi hiyo.
17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress 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.
Kisha nikawaambia, Mnaona hali hii dhaifu tuliyo nayo, jinsi Yerusalemu ulivyo hali ya ukiwa, na malango yake yalivyoteketezwa kwa moto; haya! Na tuujenge tena ukuta wa Yerusalemu, ili tusiwe shutumu tena.
18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also 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 this good work .
Nikawaeleza habari ya mkono wa Mungu wangu ulivyokuwa mwema juu yangu; pia na maneno ya mfalme aliyoniambia. Nao wakasema, Haya! Na tuondoke tukajenge. Basi wakaitia mikono yao nguvu kwa kazi hiyo njema.
Meets Opposition
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?
Lakini waliposikia Sanbalati, Mhoroni, na Tobia, mtumishi wake, Mwamoni, na Geshemu, Mwarabu, walitucheka, wakatudharau, wakasema, Ni nini neno hili mnalofanya? Je! Mtaasi ninyi juu ya mfalme?
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.
Ndipo nikawajibu, nikawaambia, Mungu wa mbinguni, yeye atatufanikisha; kwa hiyo sisi, watumishi wake, tutaondoka na kujenga; lakini ninyi hamna sehemu, wala haki, wala kumbukumbu, katika Yerusalemu.
