Aasamaria taa kateke okutunga otempeli
1 Aatondi yAajuda nAabenjamin oyu uvu kutya aantu mboka ya galuka muupika, otaa tungulula otempeli yOmuwa, Kalunga kaIsrael. 2 Oya yi kuSerubbabel naakuluntu yomaludhi e taa ti: “Tu pitikeni, tu tunge otempeli pamwe nane. Ndishi ohatu simaneke Kalunga gumwe, notwe mu yamba omayambo okuza komasiku ngoka, omupangeli gwaAssur Asarhaddon sho e tu tumine tu kale huka.”
3 Serubbabel, Josua naakuluntu yomaludhi oya ti kuyo: “Itatu pumbwa ekwatho lyeni okutunga otempeli yOmuwa, Kalunga ketu. Otatu yi tungu tse yene, naanaa ngaashi omupangeli gwaPersia Kores e tu lombwele.”
4 Nena aantu mboka ya adhika moshilongo, oya kambadhala okutyololokitha nokuhalutha Aajuda, opo yaa tunge we. 5 Oya gandja oombumbo kaakwanepangelo yAapersia, opo ye ya kondjithe. Oye ya keelele ethimbo alihe lyelelo lyaKores sigo omelelo lyaDarius.
Ekateko lyetungo lyaJerusalem
6 Petameko lyepangelo lyaKserkses aatondi yaantu mboka ya li muJuda naJerusalem, oya nyola oontumwafo tadhi ya kondjitha.
7 Muuyuni womupangeli Artakserkses gwaPersia Bishlam, Mitredat, Tabeel naahangani nayo oya nyolele omupangeli ontumwafo. Ontumwafo oya li ya nyolwa melaka lyOshiaramea nomoondanda dhasho.
8 Omunashikandjo Rehum naAmushanga Shimshai oya nyolele Artakserkses ontumwafo tayi popi Jerusalem: 9 “Rehum, omunashikandjo naShimshai, Amushanga naakwanepangelo ooyakwawo, aatokolihapu oontumwa, aatonateli nomalenga agehe, aantu ya za muErek, Babilon naSusa muElam, 10 ayehe kumwe naantu mboka Asenappar omunene nomunankondo e ya tembudha maandjawo e te ya langeke moshilando Samaria nopalwe kuuninginino womulonga Eufrat.”
11 Ontumwafo otayi ti: “Komupangeli Artakserkses, otse aamati yoye kombinga ndjika yokuuninginino waEufrat.
12 “Otwa hala oku ku tseyithila kutya Aajuda mboka ye ya huka ya zi miitopolwa yilwe yoshilongo shoye, oya tula muJerusalem notaa tungulula oshilando shoka shoshipwe noshondumbo. Oya tameke okutungulula omadhingililokuma notaye ke ga mana mbala. 13 Nkeyama, oshilando shino ngele otashi tungululwa, nomadhingililokuma gasho taga opalekwa, aantu otaa ka tinda okufuta oompale, neliko lyoye otali fupipala. 14 Ngashingeyi, oshoka tse oyopungoye, tatekulu, noinatu hala shika shi ningwe, otwa dhiladhila, 15 u konakonithe embo lyondjokonona yoohokulu. Ngele to shi ningi, oto ka dhimbulula kutya oshilando shoka oshipwidhi okuza konale noshe etele aakwaniilwa naaleli yiikandjo uudhigu. Omolwashoka osha hanagulwa po. 16 Tse ano otatu ku tseyithile kutya oshilando shika ngele tashi tungululwa nomadhingililokuma gasho taga kolekwa, nena ito ka vula we okupangela oshitopolwa shika shokuuninginino waEufrat.” 17 Omupangeli okwa tumu eyamukulo tali ti:
“KuRehum omunashikandjo nokuShimshai amushanga nokaakwanepangelo ooyakwawo ye li muSamaria nokuuninginino womulonga Eufrat, kundweni.
18 “Ontumwafo ndjoka mwa tumu, oya leshwa kungame noya yela. 19 Onda gandja elaka, ekonakono li ningwe, nosha monika mo kutya konalenale Jerusalem osha tukulila epangelo iipotha nosha li shu udha aatsindumbo naatsithi yomaminimini. 20 Aakwaniilwa aanankondo omo ya lele noya pangele oshitopolwa ashihe shokuuninginino waEufrat nokupula oompale nomaliko. 21 Ano lombweleni aantu, ya mweneke etungululo lyoshilando, sigo tandi ka gandja elaka. 22 Shi ningeni mbala, opo pwaa kale oshiponga tashi etelwa aakwaniilwa.”
23 Ontumwafo yaArtakserkses sho ya leshelwa Rehum, Shimshai nooyakwawo, oya yi mbala kuJerusalem e taa indike Aajuda okutungulula oshilando.
Etungululo lyotempeli tali tameke ishewe
24 Iilonga yotempeli oya kankekwa noya kala sigo omumvo omutiyali gwepangelo lyomupangeli gwaPersia, Darius.
Opposition to the Rebuilding of the Temple
1 The enemies of the people of Judah and Benjamin heard that those who had returned from exile were rebuilding the Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 So they went to see Zerubbabel and the heads of the clans and said, “Let us join you in building the Temple. We worship the same God you worship, and we have been offering sacrifices to him ever since Emperor Esarhaddon of Assyria sent us here to live.”
3 Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the heads of the clans told them, “We don't need your help to build a temple for the Lord our God. We will build it ourselves, just as Emperor Cyrus of Persia commanded us.”
4 Then the people who had been living in the land tried to discourage and frighten the Jews and keep them from building. 5 They also bribed Persian government officials to work against them. They kept on doing this throughout the reign of Emperor Cyrus and into the reign of Emperor Darius.
Opposition to the Rebuilding of Jerusalem
6 At the beginning of the reign of Emperor Xerxes, the enemies of the people living in Judah and Jerusalem brought written charges against them.
7 Again in the reign of Emperor Artaxerxes of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and their associates wrote a letter to the emperor. The letter was written in Aramaic and was to be translated when read.
8 Also Rehum, the governor, and Shimshai, the secretary of the province, wrote the following letter to Emperor Artaxerxes about Jerusalem:
9 “From Rehum, the governor, from Shimshai, secretary of the province, from their associates, the judges, and from all the other officials, who are originally from Erech, Babylon, and Susa in the land of Elam, 10 together with the other peoples whom the great and powerful Ashurbanipal moved from their homes and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in West-of-Euphrates Province.”
11 This is the text of the letter:
“To Emperor Artaxerxes from his servants who live in West-of-Euphrates.
12 “We want Your Majesty to know that the Jews who came here from your other territories have settled in Jerusalem and are rebuilding that evil and rebellious city. They have begun to rebuild the walls and will soon finish them. 13 Your Majesty, if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the people will stop paying taxes, and your royal revenues will decrease. 14 Now, because we are under obligation to Your Majesty, we do not want to see this happen, and so we suggest 15 that you order a search to be made in the records your ancestors kept. If you do, you will discover that this city has always been rebellious and that from ancient times it has given trouble to kings and to rulers of provinces. Its people have always been hard to govern. This is why the city was destroyed. 16 We therefore are convinced that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, Your Majesty will no longer be able to control West-of-Euphrates Province.”
17 The emperor sent this answer:
“To Rehum, the governor, to Shimshai, secretary of the province, and to their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of West-of-Euphrates, greetings.
18 “The letter which you sent has been translated and read to me. 19 I gave orders for an investigation to be made, and it has indeed been found that from ancient times Jerusalem has revolted against royal authority and that it has been full of rebels and troublemakers. 20 Powerful kings have reigned there and have ruled over the entire province of West-of-Euphrates, collecting taxes and revenue. 21 Therefore you are to issue orders that those men are to stop rebuilding the city until I give further commands. 22 Do this at once, so that no more harm may be done to my interests.”
23 As soon as this letter from Emperor Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai, and their associates, they hurried to Jerusalem and forced the Jews to stop rebuilding the city.
Work on the Temple Begins Again
24 Work on the Temple had been stopped and had remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Emperor Darius of Persia.
