Ezra 4

1 Mwet lokoalok lun mwet Judah ac mwet Benjamin lohngak lah mwet su foloko liki sruoh elos sifil musai Tempul lun LEUM GOD lun Israel.

Now the enemies of Judah and of Benjamin heard that the sons of the captivity were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel.

2 Ouinge elos som nu yorol Zerubbabel ac sifen sou uh ac fahk, “Fuhlela kut in wi kowos musai Tempul. Kut alu nu sin God se na kowos alu nu se an, ac kut nuna orek kisa nu sel oe in pacl se Tokosra Fulat Esarhaddon lun Assyria el tuh supwekutme in muta yenu ah nwe misenge.”

And so, drawing near to Zerubbabel and to the leaders of the fathers, they said to them: “Let us build with you, for we seek your God just as you do. Behold, we have immolated victims to him from the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

3 Zerubbabel, Joshua, ac sifen sou elos fahk nu selos, “Kut tia enenu kasru lowos in musai sie Tempul nu sin LEUM GOD lasr. Kut ac sifacna musai, oana ke Tokosra Fulat Cyrus lun Persia el sapkin nu sesr.”

And Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of the fathers of Israel said to them: “It is not for you to build the house of our God with us. Instead, we alone shall build to the Lord our God, just as Cyrus, the king of the Persians, has commanded us.”

4 Na mwet ma muta fin acn ah elos tuh srike in akmunasye mwet Jew ac aksangengyalos tuh elos in tia musa.

Therefore, it happened that the people of the land impeded the hands of the people of Judah, and they troubled them in building.

5 Elos oayapa eyeinse nu sin mwet fulat lun Persia tuh elos in wi pac lainulos. Elos oru na ouiya se inge in pacl lal Tokosra Fulat Cyrus ah nwe ke pacl lal Tokosra Fulat Darius.

Then they hired counselors against them, so that they might argue against their plan during all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of the Persians.

6 Ke mutaweyen we lal Tokosra Fulat Ahasuerus, mwet lokoalok lun mwet su muta Judah ac Jerusalem elos som nu yorol tokosra ac us pwepu in alein lalos.

And so, during the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and of Jerusalem.

7 Sifilpa ke pacl se Artaxerxes el tokosra fulat fin acn Persia, na Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, ac mwet wialos elos simusla sie leta nu sel Tokosra Fulat Artaxerxes. Leta sac sim ke kas Aramaic, na tufah lungasyukla ke pacl ritiyuk.

And so, in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, and Tabeel, and the others who were in their council wrote to Artaxerxes, king of the Persians. Now the letter of accusation was written in Syriac, and was being read in the Syrian language.

8 Oayapa Rehum, su governor, ac Shimshai, su mwet sim lun polo acn sac, eltal simusla pac leta se inge nu sel Tokosra Fulat Artaxerxes, ac sramsram ke acn Jerusalem:

Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, wrote one letter from Jerusalem to king Artaxerxes, in this manner:

9 “Leta se inge ma sel Rehum, governor, oayapa sel Shimshai, mwet sim lun acn uh, ac sin mwet wialos, mwet nununku, ac mwet pwapa nukewa saya su in pacl meet elos tuh muta in acn Erech in facl Babylon, oayapa Susa in facl Elam,

“Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, and the rest of their counselors, the judges, and rulers, the officials, those from Persia, from Erech, from Babylonia, from Susa, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,

10 weang pac mwet nukewa su leum fulat Ashurbanipal el tuh moklela liki acn selos ac oakelosi in siti Samaria ac acn saya pac ke acn Roto-in-Euphrates.”

and the rest of the nations, whom the great and glorious Osnappar transferred and caused to live in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the regions across the river in peace:

11 Pa inge kas in leta sac: “Nu sin Tokosra Fulat Artaxerxes, sin mwet kulansap lal, mwet Roto-in-Euphrates.

to king Artaxerxes. (This is a copy of the letter, which they sent to him.) Your servants, the men who are across the river, send a greeting.

12 “Kut lungse tuh Tokosra Fulat lasr elan etu lah mwet Jew su tuku nu yenu liki acn saya pac lom elos oakwuki in Jerusalem, ac inge elos sifilpa musai siti koluk ac tunyuna sac. Elos mutawauk tari in sifil musai pot uh, na tia paht ac safla.

Let it be known to the king, that the Jews, who ascended from you to us, have arrived in Jerusalem, a rebellious and most wicked city, which they are building, constructing its ramparts and repairing the walls.

13 O Tokosra Fulat, siti se inge fin sifil musaiyuk, ac pot la uh aksafyeyukla, mwet we uh ac tia sifil moli tax lalos nu sum, na kasrup lom ac fah srikeni.

And now let be it known to the king, that if this city will have been built up, and its walls repaired, they will not pay tribute, nor tax, nor yearly revenues, and this loss will affect even the kings.

14 Inge, ke sripen kut muta ye poum in kulansupwekom, kut tia lungse ma inge in sikyak. Ke ma inge kut srukak nunak in kasru lasr,

But, remembering the salt that we have eaten in the palace, and because we are led to believe that it is a crime to see the king harmed, we have therefore sent and reported to the king,

15 tuh kom in sapkin in sukok ke book in sramsram matu lun mwet lom somla meet. Kom fin oru ouinge, kom ac konauk lah siti se inge nuna utuk na. Oemeet me, mwet we elos oru na elya nu sin tokosra pus ac mwet kol pus lun acn uh. Pacl nukewa mwet we uh elos lain na mwet liyalosyang. Pa ingan sripa se pwanang kunausyukla siti sac.

so that you may search in the books of the histories of your fathers, and you may find written in the records, and you may know that this city is a rebellious city, and that it is harmful to the kings and the provinces, and that wars were incited within it from the days of antiquity. For which reason also, the city itself was destroyed.

16 Ke ma inge kut nunak sela mu siti se inge fin sifilpa musa ac aksafyeyukla pot we uh, ac fah wanginla ku lom fin acn Roto-in-Euphrates.”

We report to the king that if this city will have been built, and its walls repaired, you will have no possession across the river.”

17 Na tokosra fulat el topuk ouinge: “Nu sum, Governor Rehum, ac nu sum, Shimshai, mwet sim lun acn, ac nu sin mwet wiowos su muta Samaria ac acn saya ke acn Roto-in-Euphrates. Paing kowos.

The king sent word to Rehum, the commander, and to Shimshai, the scribe, and to the rest who were in their council, to the inhabitants of Samaria, and to the others across the river, offering a greeting and peace.

18 “Leta lowos ah sunyu. Lungasyukla ac ritiyuk nu sik tari.

“The accusation, which you have sent to us, has been read aloud before me.

19 Nga sapkakin tuh mwet luk in suk aklohya ke ma simusla, na koneyukyak lah pwaye, oemeet me acn Jerusalem lungse lain ku lun tokosra, ac acn we sessesla ke mwet koluk ac mwet orek lokoalok.

And it was commanded by me, and they searched and found that this city, from the days of antiquity, has rebelled against the kings, and that seditions and battles have been incited within it.

20 Tokosra na ku puspis elos tuh leumi acn we oayapa nununku acn nukewa in acn Roto-in-Euphrates, ac eisani tax ac mani in kasru saya.

Then too, there have been very strong kings in Jerusalem, who also ruled over the entire region which is across the river. They have also taken tribute, and tax, and revenues.

21 Ke ma inge kowos in sapla ac fahk tuh mwet ingan in tui ke musaiyen siti sacn nu ke pacl se nga sifil fahk ma in orek.

Now therefore, hear the sentence: Prohibit those men, so that this city may be not built, until perhaps there may be further orders from me.

22 Kowos in aksaye, tuh in tia sifil oasr mwe lokoalok nu ke ma luk ku acn sik.”

See to it that you are not negligent in fulfilling this, otherwise, little by little, the evil may increase against the kings.”

23 Ke leta se lal Tokosra Fulat Artaxerxes rityak nu sel Rehum, Shimshai, ac mwet wialos, elos sulaklak na som nu Jerusalem ac ikol mwet Jew in tui, tia sifil musai siti sac.

And so a copy of the edict of king Artaxerxes was read before Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, and their counselors. And they went away hurriedly to Jerusalem, to the Jews. And they prohibited them by force and by strength.

24 Orekma ke Tempul ah tui na, ac wanginna ma orek nu kac nwe ke yac se akluo ke Darius el Tokosra Fulat lun Persia.

Then the work of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem was interrupted, and it did not resume until the second year of the reign of Darius, the king of the Persians.