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.
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.
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?
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
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.
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.
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;
and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's {Or, park}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.
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.
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.
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And the {Or, deputies}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 {Or, deputies}rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Querverweise zu Nehemia 2,17 Neh 2,17
The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied:He hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;He hath brought them down to the ground; he hath profaned the kingdom and the princes thereof.
Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel {Or, which was upon them}prophesied they unto them.
And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
Jehovah hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion;He hath stretched out the line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from {Hebrew: swallowing up.}destroying;And he hath made the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together.
Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them.
And Nahash the Ammonite said unto them, On this condition will I make it with you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars:Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not;Yea, her prophets find no vision from Jehovah.
And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.
Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of {Or, the Lord}my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee: be of good courage, and do it.
Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors,A scoffing and a derision to them that are round about us.
Mine eye affecteth my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the {Or, tottering}feeble knees.
We are become a reproach to our neighbors,A scoffing and derision to them that are round about us.
Say to them that are of a {Hebrew: hasty.}fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: {Or, behold, your God! vengeance will come, even the recompense of God}behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you.
And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosomTheir reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants;How I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the {Or, many}mighty peoples,
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Jehovah,Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
I will even give them up to be {Or, a terror unto}tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
Thou hast made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.
All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
Moreover I will make thee a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.
Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.
Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, thou {Hebrew: defiled of name.}infamous one and full of tumult.