Esdræ 6

1 Tunc Darius rex præcepit: et recensuerunt in bibliotheca librorum, qui erant repositi in Babylone,

Then Darius the king made a decree, and the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon, was searched.

2 et inventum est in Ecbatanis, quod est castrum in Medena provincia volumen unum, talisque scriptus erat in eo commentarius:

A scroll was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, and in it this was written for a record:

3 Anno primo Cyri regis: Cyrus rex decrevit ut domus Dei ædificaretur, quæ est in Ierusalem, in loco ubi immolent hostias, et ut ponant fundamenta supportantia altitudinem cubitorum sexaginta, et latitudinem cubitorum sexaginta,

In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning God’s house at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be strongly laid, with its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits;

4 ordines de lapidibus impolitis tres, et sic ordines de lignis novis: sumptus autem de domo regis dabuntur.

with three courses of great stones and a course of new timber. Let the expenses be given out of the king’s house.

5 Sed et vasa templi Dei aurea et argentea, quæ Nabuchodonosor tulerat de templo Ierusalem, et attulerat ea in Babylonem, reddantur, et referantur in templum in Ierusalem in locum suum, quæ et posita sunt in templo Dei.

Also let the gold and silver vessels of God’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which is at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, everything to its place. You shall put them in God’s house.

6 Nunc ergo Thathanai dux regionis, quæ est trans Flumen, Stharbuzanai, et consiliarii vestri Apharsachæi, qui estis trans Flumen, procul recedite ab illis,

Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, you must stay far from there.

7 et dimittite fieri templum Dei illud a duce Iudæorum, et a senioribus eorum, ut domum Dei illam ædificent in loco suo.

Leave the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.

8 Sed et a me præceptum est quid oporteat fieri a presbyteris Iudæorum illis ut ædificetur domus Dei, scilicet ut de arca regis, id est, de tributis, quæ dantur de regione trans Flumen, studiose sumptus dentur viris illis ne impediatur opus.

Moreover I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the River, expenses must be given with all diligence to these men, that they not be hindered.

9 Quod si necesse fuerit, et vitulos, et agnos, et hœdos in holocaustum Deo cæli, frumentum, sal, vinum, et oleum, secundum ritum Sacerdotum, qui sunt in Ierusalem, detur eis per singulos dies, ne sit in aliquo querimonia.

That which they have need of, including young bulls, rams, and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail,

10 Et offerant oblationes Deo cæli, orentque pro vita regis, et filiorum eius.

that they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.

11 A me ergo positum est decretum: Ut omnis homo, qui hanc mutaverit iussionem, tollatur lignum de domum ipsius, et erigatur, et configatur in eo, domus autem eius publicetur.

I have also made a decree that whoever alters this message, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened on it; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.

12 Deus autem, qui habitare fecit nomen suum ibi, dissipet omnia regna, et populum qui extenderit manum suam ut repugnet, et dissipet domum Dei illam, quæ est in Ierusalem. Ego Darius statui decretum, quod studiose impleri volo.

May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who stretch out their hand to alter this, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree. Let it be done with all diligence.

13 Igitur Thathanai dux regionis trans Flumen, et Stharbuzanai, et consiliarii eius, secundum quod præceperat Darius rex, sic diligenter executi sunt.

Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and their companions did accordingly with all diligence, because Darius the king had sent a decree.

14 Seniores autem Iudæorum ædificabant, et prosperabantur iuxta prophetiam Aggæi prophetæ, et Zachariæ filii Addo: et ædificaverunt et construxerunt iubente Deo Israel, et iubente Cyro, et Dario, et Artaxerxe regibus Persarum:

The elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

15 et compleverunt domum Dei istam, usque ad diem tertium mensis Adar, qui est annus sextus regni Darii regis.

This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

16 Fecerunt autem filii Israel Sacerdotes et Levitæ, et reliqui filiorum transmigrationis, dedicationem domus Dei in gaudio.

The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.

17 Et obtulerunt in dedicationem domus Dei, vitulos centum, arietes ducentos, agnos quadringentos, hircos caprarum pro peccato totius Israel duodecim, iuxta numerum tribuum Israel.

They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

18 Et statuerunt Sacerdotes in ordinibus suis, et Levitas in vicibus suis super opera Dei in Ierusalem, sicut scriptum est in libro Moysi.

They set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God which is at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

19 Fecerunt autem filii Israel transmigrationis, Pascha, quartadecima die mensis primi.

The children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

20 Purificati enim fuerant Sacerdotes et Levitæ quasi unus: omnes mundi ad immolandum Pascha universis filiis transmigrationis, et fratribus suis Sacerdotibus, et sibi.

Because the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together, all of them were pure. They killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.

21 Et comederunt filii Israel, qui reversi fuerant de transmigratione, et omnes qui se separaverant a coinquinatione Gentium terræ ad eos, ut quærerent Dominum Deum Israel.

The children of Israel who had returned out of the captivity, and all who had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, ate,

22 Et fecerunt sollemnitatem azymorum septem diebus in lætitia, quoniam lætificaverat eos Dominus, et converterat cor regis Assur ad eos, ut adiuvaret manus eorum in opere domus Domini Dei Israel.

and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; because the LORD had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of God, the God of Israel’s house.