Ezra 5
1 At that time two prophets gave messages from God to the Jews in Jerusalem and [other cities in] Judah. The prophets were Haggai and Zechariah, who was a descendant of Iddo. They spoke those messages representing God, whom the Israelis [worshiped/belonged to], the one who was their true king.
那時，有哈蓋和依多的兒子匝加利亞二位先知，受感動奉以色列天主的名，勸勉在猶大和的猶太人。
2 Then Zerubbabel and Shealtiel [led many other people] as they started [again] to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. And God’s prophets [Haggai and Zechariah] were with them and helped them.
於是沙耳提耳的兒子則魯巴貝耳，和約匝達克的兒子耶叔亞起來，下手修建耶路撒冷的天主殿宇；身邊有天主的二位先知，鼓勵人民。
3 Then Tattenai the governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River and Shethar-Bozenai his assistant and [some of] their officials went to Jerusalem and said to the people, “Who has permitted you to rebuild this temple and put furnishings in it?”
當時，河西州長塔特乃和舍達波則乃，以及他們的同僚，來到他們那裏，問他們說：「誰給了你們許可，建築這殿，修理城牆呢﹖
4 They also requested the people to tell them the names of the men who were working [at the temple]. [But the people refused].
負責建築這工程的人，他們叫什麼名字﹖」
5 However, God was taking care of the Jewish leaders, so their enemies were not able to prevent the people from continuing [to rebuild the temple]. [They continued to work while their enemies] sent a report to King Darius, and asked him [what he wanted them to do] about it.
於是天主垂顧了人的長老，沒有讓人限令他們停工，直到上書達理阿，有了關於此事的覆文。
6 So Tattenai and Shethar-Bozenai and their officials sent a report to King Darius.
以下是河西州長塔特乃和舍達波則乃，以及他們在河西的同僚官員，上呈達理阿王奏文的副本。
7 This is what they wrote: “King Darius, we hope that things are going well for you!
他們向王所呈的奏文上這樣寫道：「達理阿陛下萬安!
8 [“We want you to know that] we went to Judah Province, where the temple of the great God is being rebuilt. The people are building it with huge stones, and they are putting wooden beams in the walls. The work is being done very carefully, and they are progressing well.
奉奏我大王，我們日前去過猶大省，到了偉大天主的殿宇那裏，見那殿正在用一石塊修建，牆上也在安放木板；這工程在他們手下，進行的非常快，又非常順利。
9 “We asked the Jewish leaders, ‘Who has permitted you to rebuild this temple and put furnishings in it?’
我們詢問了那些長老，這樣問他們說：誰給了你們許可修建這殿，打奠牆基﹖
10 And we requested them to tell us the names of their leaders, in order that we could tell you who they were.
我們也詢問了他們的名字，為奏知大王；所以我們能給陛下出他們的名字。
11 “But [instead of telling us their leaders’ names, ] what they said was, ‘We serve the God [who created] the heaven and the earth. Many years ago a great king [who ruled] us Israeli people [told our ancestors to] build a temple here, and now we are rebuilding it.
他們如此答覆我們說：我們是天地大主的僕人，重修多年以前所修建的殿宇，這殿是一位以色列偉大的君王所建築完成的。
12 “'But God, [who rules] in heaven, allowed [the armies of] Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia, to destroy that temple, because our ancestors did things that caused God to become very angry. Nebuchadnezzar’s army took [many of] the [Israeli] people to Babylonia.
但因為我們的祖先冒犯了上天的大主，衪便把他們交在加色丁人巴比倫王拿步高手中，讓他破壞了這座殿宇，將人民擄到巴比倫去。
13 “'However, during the first year that Cyrus the King of Babylon started to rule, he decreed that the temple of God should be rebuilt.
然而，在巴比倫王居魯士元年，居魯士王頒發諭旨，令重建這座天主的殿宇。
14 Cyrus returned [to the Jewish leaders] all the gold and silver cups that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem and which had been put in the temple in Babylon. Those cups were given to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom King Cyrus had appointed to be the governor in Judah.
居魯士王且把拿步高從耶路撒冷殿內，帶到巴比倫殿的天主殿宇的金銀器，從巴比倫殿拿出來，交給了一個名叫市巴匝的，並立他為省長，
15 “'The king instructed him to take the cups back to Jerusalem, to the place [from which they had previously been taken]. He also decreed that they should rebuild the temple at the place where it had been before. So Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar to be the governor in Judah. He also sent all those things made of gold and silver, for Sheshbazzar to put in the new temple.
向他說：你將這些器冊拿去，安放在耶路撒冷的殿內，並將天主的殿宇，重建在原的地方。
16 So Sheshbazzar did that. He came here to Jerusalem, and [supervised the men who] laid the foundation of the temple. And since that time, the people have been working on the temple, but it is not finished yet.’
於是這位舍市巴匝便來，安放了耶路撒冷的天主殿宇的基石；從那時修建至今，沒有竣工。
17 “Therefore, your majesty, please order someone to search in the place in Babylon where the important records are kept, to find out whether [it is true that] King Cyrus decreed that God’s temple should be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then you can tell us what you want us to do about this matter.”
現在大王若以為好，就派人檢查大王在巴比倫的寶庫，看看是否居魯士王，曾對重建耶路撒冷的天主殿宇，頒發過諭令，並祈大王對此事給我們頒下聖旨。
