耶利米書 52
1 西底家登基的時候年二十一歲，在耶路撒冷作王十一年。他母親名叫哈慕她，是立拿人耶利米的女兒。
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became the King [of Judah]. He ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of [a man named] Jeremiah from Libnah [town].
2 西底家行耶和華眼中看為惡的事，是照約雅敬一切所行的。
Zedekiah did [many] things that Yahweh says are evil, like [his father] Jehoiakim had done.
3 因此耶和華的怒氣在耶路撒冷和猶大發作，以致將人民從自己的面前趕出。
[The events that are summarized here happened] because Yahweh was angry with [the people of] Jerusalem and [of other places in] Judah, and finally he (exiled them/forced them to go to other countries) [and said that he did not want to have anything to do with] them any more. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4 西底家背叛巴比倫王。他作王第九年十月初十日，巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒率領全軍來攻擊耶路撒冷，對城安營，四圍築壘攻城。
[So, ] on January 15, when Zedekiah had been ruling for almost nine years, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built dirt ramps up to the top of the city walls [to enable them to attack the city].
5 於是城被圍困直到西底家王十一年。
They continued to surround Jerusalem until Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years.
6 四月初九日，城裏有大饑荒，甚至百姓都沒有糧食。
When Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years, by July 18 of that year, the (famine/lack of food) in the city had become very severe, and there was no [more] food for the people [to eat].
7 城被攻破，一切兵丁就在夜間從靠近王園兩城中間的門，出城逃跑；迦勒底人正在四圍攻城。他們就往亞拉巴逃去。
Then [the soldiers of Babylonia] broke through [a section of] the city wall, and all the [Israeli] soldiers fled. But because the city was surrounded by soldiers from Babylonia, [Zedekiah and the Israeli] soldiers [waited until] it became dark. Then they left the city through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they ran towards the Jordan River Valley.
8 迦勒底的軍隊追趕西底家王，在耶利哥的平原追上他。他的全軍都離開他四散了。
But the soldiers of Babylonia pursued King Zedekiah, and they caught up with him on the plains near Jericho. [He was alone because] all his men had deserted him and had scattered.
9 迦勒底人就拿住王，帶他到在哈馬地利比拉的巴比倫王那裏；巴比倫王便審判他。
The soldiers of Babylonia took him to the king of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the Hamath [region]. There the king of Babylon told [his soldiers what] they should do to punish Zedekiah.
10 巴比倫王在西底家眼前殺了他的眾子，又在利比拉殺了猶大的一切首領，
They forced Zedekiah to watch while they killed his sons and all the officials from Judah.
11 並且剜了西底家的眼睛，用銅鍊鎖着他，帶到巴比倫去，將他囚在監裏，直到他死的日子。
[Then] they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They fastened him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. They put him in a prison, and he remained there until the day that he died.
12 巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒十九年五月初十日，在巴比倫王面前侍立的護衛長尼布撒拉旦進入耶路撒冷，
On August 17 of that year, which was when King Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost 19 years, Nebuzaradan, who was the captain of the king’s bodyguards and one of the king’s officials, arrived in Jerusalem.
13 用火焚燒耶和華的殿和王宮，又焚燒耶路撒冷的房屋，就是各大戶家的房屋。
He [commanded his soldiers to] burn down the temple of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. They [also] destroyed all the important buildings [in the city].
14 跟從護衛長迦勒底的全軍就拆毀耶路撒冷四圍的城牆。
Then he supervised the soldiers from Babylonia while they tore down the walls on all sides of Jerusalem.
15 那時護衛長尼布撒拉旦將民中最窮的和城裏所剩下的百姓，並已經投降巴比倫王的人，以及大眾所剩下的人，都擄去了。
Then Nebuzaradan (forced to go/exiled) [to Babylon] some of the poorest people, those Israelis who had said they would support the king of Babylon, the rest of the craftsmen, and other people who had remained in Jerusalem.
16 但護衛長尼布撒拉旦留下些民中最窮的，使他們修理葡萄園，耕種田地。
But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the very poor people to remain [in Judah] to take care of the vineyards and fields.
17 耶和華殿的銅柱並殿內的盆座和銅海，迦勒底人都打碎了，將那銅運到巴比倫去了，
The soldiers from Babylonia broke [into pieces] the [huge] bronze pillars that were in front of the temple, and the [large] bronze water tank, and the [ten bronze water] carts, and they took all the bronze to Babylon.
18 又帶去鍋、鏟子、蠟剪、盤子、調羹，並所用的一切銅器、
They also took away the basins [for holding the ashes from the burned sacrifices], the shovels [for cleaning out the ashes], the tools for snuffing out the wicks of the lamps, the basins [for holding the blood of the sacrificed animals], the dishes [for incense], and all the [other] bronze items that were used when sacrifices were made at the temple.
19 杯、火鼎、碗、盆、燈臺、調羹、爵，無論金的銀的，護衛長也都帶去了。
Nebuzaradan also [told his soldiers to] take away the small bowls, the dishes for burning incense, the basins, pots, lampstands, bowls [for incense], and the bowls used for pouring out the wine offerings. They took all the other items that were made of pure gold or silver.
20 所羅門為耶和華殿所造的兩根銅柱、一個銅海，並座下的十二隻銅牛，這一切的銅多得無法可稱。
The bronze from the two pillars, the [large water] tank and the twelve statues of oxen that were beneath it, and the water carts, was more/heavier than they could weigh. Those things had been made for the temple during the time that Solomon was the king.
21 這一根柱子高十八肘，厚四指，是空的，圍十二肘。
Each of the pillars was (27 feet/8 meters) tall and (18 feet/5.5 meters) around. They were hollow, and each had sides/walls that were (3 in./8 cm.) thick.
22 柱上有銅頂，高五肘；銅頂的周圍有網子和石榴，都是銅的。那一根柱子照此一樣，也有石榴。
The bronze head on the top of each pillar was (7-1/2 feet/over 2 meters) high and was decorated all around with a bronze [network of figures that represented] pomegranates.
23 柱子四面有九十六個石榴，在網子周圍，共有一百石榴。
There was a total of 100 figures of pomegranates on the network at the top, 96 of which could be seen from the ground.
24 護衛長拿住大祭司西萊雅、副祭司西番亞，和三個把門的，
When Nebuzaradan [returned to Babylon], he took [with him as prisoners] Seraiah the Supreme Priest, Zephaniah who was Seraiah’s deputy, and the three men who guarded the entrances [to the temple].
25 又從城中拿住一個管理兵丁的官，並在城裏所遇常見王面的七個人和檢點國民軍長的書記，以及城裏所遇見的國民六十個人。
He found [some other] people who were [hiding] in the city. [So] from them he took a commander of the army [of Judah], seven of the king’s advisors, the army commander’s chief secretary who was in charge of recruiting [soldiers for the army], and 60 [other] soldiers.
26 護衛長尼布撒拉旦將這些人帶到利比拉的巴比倫王那裏。
Nebuzaradan took them all to the king of Babylon, [who was still] at Riblah.
27 巴比倫王就把他們擊殺在哈馬地的利比拉。這樣，猶大人被擄去離開本地。
There at Riblah in the Hamath region, the king of Babylon commanded that they [all] be executed. [Many of the people of] Judah were (forced to leave/exiled from) their own land.
28 尼布甲尼撒所擄的民數記在下面：在他第七年擄去猶大人三千零二十三名；
The number of people who were captured and sent to Babylon at that time, when Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost seven years, was 3,023.
29 尼布甲尼撒十八年從耶路撒冷擄去八百三十二人；
Then, when he had been ruling for almost 18 years, his [soldiers] took 832 [more Israeli people to Babylonia].
30 尼布甲尼撒二十三年，護衛長尼布撒拉旦擄去猶大人七百四十五名；共有四千六百人。
When he had been ruling almost 23 years, he sent Nebuzaradan [to Jerusalem again], and he brought back 745 [more Israelis to Babylonia]. That was a total of 4,600 Israelis [who were taken to Babylonia].
31 猶大王約雅斤被擄後三十七年，巴比倫王以未‧米羅達元年十二月二十五日，使猶大王約雅斤抬頭，提他出監，
After King Jehoiachin of Judah had been in prison [in Babylon] for almost thirty-seven years, Evil-Merodach became the king of Babylon. He was kind to Jehoiachin and ordered that he be released from prison. That was on March 31 of the year that Evil-Merodach became king.
32 又對他說恩言，使他的位高過與他一同在巴比倫眾王的位，
He [always] spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a position in which he was honored more than [all] the other kings [who had been exiled/taken to Babylon].
33 給他脫了囚服。他終身在巴比倫王面前吃飯。
He [supplied new clothes] for Jehoiachin, to replace the clothes that he had been wearing in prison. [He also allowed] Jehoiachin to eat with him every day, all during the rest of his life.
34 巴比倫王賜他所需用的食物，日日賜他一分，終身是這樣，直到他死的日子。
Every day, the King [of Babylon] gave him some money [to buy the things that he needed. That continued] until the day that Jehoiachin died.
