Nehemiah 5

1 And the cry of the people and their wives [was] great against their brethren the Jews.

Tam je bilo veliko vpitje ljudstva in njihovih žena zoper njihove brate Jude.

2 And some said, We [are] numerous with our sons and our daughters; so we will take corn, and eat, and live.

Kajti tam so bili, ki so rekli: »Nas, naših sinov in naših hčera je mnogo. Zato zanje zbiramo žito, da bomo lahko jedli in živeli.«

3 And some said, [As to] our fields and vineyards and houses, let us pledge [them], and we will take corn, and eat.

Tam so bili tudi nekateri, ki so rekli: »Zaradi pomanjkanja smo zastavili svoje dežele, vinograde in hiše, da bi lahko kupili žito.«

4 And some said, We have borrowed money for the king's tributes: —our fields, and our vineyards, and houses [are pledged].

Tam so bili tudi, ki so rekli: »Izposodili smo si denar za kraljevi davek in to [za ceno] naših dežel in vinogradov.

5 And now our flesh [is] as the flesh of our brethren, our children [are] as their children: yet, behold, we are reducing our sons and our daughters to slavery, and some of our daughters are enslaved: and there is no power of our hands, for our fields and our vineyards [belong] to the nobles.

Vendar je sedaj naše meso kakor meso naših bratov, naši otroci kakor njihovi otroci. Glej, svoje sinove prinašamo v sužnost in svoje hčere, da bodo služabnice in nekatere izmed naših hčera so že privedene v sužnost. Niti to ni v naši moči, da jih odkupimo, kajti drugi možje imajo naše dežele in vinograde.«

6 And I was much grieved as I heard their cry and these words.

Bil sem zelo jezen, ko sem slišal njihovo vpitje in te besede.

7 And my heart took counsel within me, and I contended against the nobles, and the princes, and I said to them, Should every man demand of his brother what you demand? And I appointed against them a great assembly,

Potem sem se posvetoval s seboj in oštel plemiče in vladarje ter jim rekel: »Vi terjate obresti, vsakdo od svojega brata.« In zoper njih sem postavil velik zbor.

8 and I said to them, We of our free-will have redeemed our brethren the Jews that were sold to the Gentiles; and do you sell your brethren? and shall they be delivered to us? And they were silent, and found no answer.

Rekel sem jim: »Po svoji zmožnosti smo odkupili svoje brate Jude, ki so bili prodani poganom. Vi pa boste celo prodajali svoje brate? Ali naj bi bili oni prodani nam?« Potem so ohranili svoj mir in nič niso našli, da bi odgovorili.

9 And I said, The thing which you do [is] not good; you will not so walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the Gentiles our enemies.

Prav tako sem rekel: »To ni dobro, kar delate. Ali ne bi morali hoditi v strahu našega Boga zaradi graje poganov, naših sovražnikov?

10 Both my brethren, and my acquaintances, and I, have lent them money and corn: let us now leave off this exaction.

Tudi jaz in moji bratje in moji služabniki bi lahko od njih terjali denar in žito. Prosim vas, prenehajmo s tem oderuštvom.

11 Restore to them, I pray, as at this day, their fields, and their vineyards, and their olive yards, and their houses, and bring forth to them corn and wine and oil of the money.

Povrnite jim, prosim vas, celo ta dan, njihove dežele, njihove vinograde, njihove oljčne nasade in njihove hiše, tudi stoti del denarja in od žita, vina in olja, ki ste jih vzeli od njih.«

12 And they said, We will restore, and we will not exact of them; we will do thus as you say. Then I called the priests, and bound them by oath to do according to this word.

Potem so rekli: »Povrnili jim bomo in ničesar ne bomo zahtevali od njih. Storili bomo tako, kakor praviš.« Potem sem poklical duhovnike in od njih vzel prisego, da bi storili glede na to obljubo.

13 And I shook out my garment, and said, So may God shake out every man who shall not keep to this word, from his house, and from his labours, he shall be even thus shaken out, as an outcast and empty. And all the congregation said, Amen, and they praised the Lord: and the people did this thing.

Prav tako sem stresel svoje naročje in rekel: »Tako naj Bog iztrese vsakega človeka iz njegove hiše in od njegovega truda, ki ne izpolni te obljube, celo tako bo iztresen in izpraznjen.« In vsa skupnost je rekla: »Amen« in hvalili so Gospoda. In ljudstvo je storilo glede na to obljubo.

14 From the day that he charged me to be their ruler in the land of Juda, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Arthasastha, twelve years, I and my brethren ate not [provision] extorted from them.

Poleg tega od časa, ko sem bil določen, da bi bil njihov voditelj v Judovi deželi, od dvajsetega leta, celo do dvaintridesetega leta kralja Artakserksa, to je dvanajst let, jaz in moji bratje nismo jedli kruha od voditelja.

15 But as for the former acts of extortion wherein [those who were] before me oppressed them, they even took of them their last money, forty didrachmas for bread and wine; and the [very] outcasts of them exercised authority over the people: but I did not so, because of the fear of God.

Toda prejšnji voditelji, ki so bili pred menoj, so bili v breme ljudstvu in so od njih jemali kruh in vino, poleg štiridesetih šeklov srebra. Da, celo njihovi služabniki so vladali nad ljudstvom. Toda zaradi Božjega strahu jaz nisem tako storil.

16 Also in the work of the wall I treated them not with rigor, I bought not land: and all that were gathered together [came] there to the work.

Da, prav tako sem nadaljeval pri delu tega obzidja niti nismo kupili nobene zemlje in vsi moji služabniki so bili zbrani tja k delu.

17 And the Jews, to [the number of] a hundred and fifty men, besides those coming to us from the nations round about, [were] at my table.

Poleg tega jih je bilo pri moji mizi sto petdeset izmed Judov in vladarjev, poleg tistih, ki so prišli k nam izmed poganov, ki so okoli nas.

18 And there came [to me] for one day one calf, and I had six choice sheep and a goat; and every ten days wine in abundance of all sorts: yet with these I required not the bread of extortion, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.

Torej tega, kar je bilo dnevno pripravljeno zame, je bilo: en vol in šest izbranih ovc. Tudi perjad je bila pripravljena zame in enkrat na deset dni izbor vseh vrst vina. Vendar za vse to nisem zahteval kruha od voditelja, ker je bilo suženjstvo težko nad tem ljudstvom.

19 Remember me, O God, for good, [in] all that I have done to this people.

Misli name, moj Bog, za dobro, glede na vse, kar sem storil za to ljudstvo.