< Jeremias 37 >

1 Zedekias, Josias's Søn, blev Konge i Konjas, Jojakims Søns, Sted, idet Kong Nebukadrezar af Babel satte ham til Konge i Judas Land.
After Jehoiakim died, [his son Jehoiachin became king for only three months, after which] King Josiah’s son Zedekiah became the King of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, appointed him to be the new king.
2 Men han og hans Mænd og Landets Befolkning hørte ikke paa de Ord, HERREN talede ved Profeten Jeremias.
But King Zedekiah and his palace officials and the other people in the land paid no attention to the messages that Yahweh gave me.
3 Kong Zedekias sendte Jukal, Sjelemjas Søn, og Præsten Zefanja, Ma'asejas Søn, til Profeten Jeremias og lod sige: »Gaa i Forbøn for os hos HERREN vor Gud!«
However, [one day] King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, who was the son of Maaseiah, to me. They requested me to pray to Yahweh our God for our [nation].
4 Dengang gik Jeremias frit ud og ind blandt Folket, thi man havde endnu ikke kastet ham i Fængsel.
At that time I had not yet been put in prison, so I could come and go wherever and whenever I wanted to, [without being hindered].
5 Faraos Hær var rykket ud fra Ægypten; og da Kaldæerne, som belejrede Jerusalem, fik Nys herom, var de brudt op fra Jerusalem.
[At that time], the army of [Hophra], the King of Egypt, came [to the southern border of Judah]. When the army of Babylonia heard about that, they stopped surrounding Jerusalem and left there [to fight against the army from Egypt].
6 Da kom HERRENS Ord til Profeten Jeremias saaledes:
Then Yahweh gave this message to me:
7 Saa siger HERREN, Israels Gud: Saaledes skal du sige til Judas Konge, som har sendt Bud til dig for at raadspørge mig: Se, Faraos Hær, som er rykket ud for at hjælpe eder, skal vende hjem til Ægypten;
“[I], Yahweh, the God whom [you] Israelis [say you belong to], say this: ‘The King of Judah has sent [messengers] to you to ask me [what is going to happen]. Tell the king that even though the army of the King of Egypt came to help him, they are about to return to Egypt.
8 og Kaldæerne skal vende tilbage og angribe denne By, indtage og afbrænde den.
Then the army of Babylonia will return here and capture this city and burn everything in it.’
9 Saa siger HERREN: Nar ikke eder selv ved at sige: »Kaldæerne drager bort fra os for Alvor!« Thi de drager ikke bort.
[So], this is what I say [to you Israelis]: ‘You should not deceive yourselves, thinking that the army from Babylonia has gone and will not return. That is not true.
10 Ja, om I saa slog hele Kaldæernes Hær, der angriber eder, saa der kun blev nogle saarede tilbage, hver i sit Telt, saa skulde de staa op og afbrænde denne By.
And even if your soldiers could destroy almost all of the soldiers from Babylonia who are attacking you, and allow only a few of them who were wounded to remain alive in their tents, they would come out [of their tents] and burn this city completely!”’”
11 Da Kaldæernes Hær var brudt op fra Jerusalem for Faraos Hær,
When the army from Babylonia left Jerusalem because the army from Egypt was approaching,
12 gik Jeremias ud af Jerusalem for at drage til Benjamins Land og faa en Arvelod iblandt Befolkningen.
I started to leave the city. I intended to go to the area [where the descendants of] Benjamin live, in order to take possession of my share of the property from my family.
13 Men da han kom til Benjaminsporten, var der en Vagthavende ved Navn Jir'ija, en Søn af Hananjas Søn Sjelemja, og han greb Profeten Jeremias og sagde: »Du vil løbe over til Kaldæerne.«
But as I was walking out the Benjamin Gate, a guard seized me and said, “You are deserting [us and going] to [the soldiers from] Babylonia!” The man who seized me was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah.
14 Jeremias svarede: »Det er Løgn; jeg vil ikke løbe over til Kaldæerne.« Jir'ija vilde dog ikke høre ham, men greb ham og bragte ham til Fyrsterne;
But I [protested and] said, “That is not true! I was not intending to do that!” But Irijah would not pay attention to what I said. He took me to the [king’s] officials.
15 og Fyrsterne vrededes paa Jeremias, slog ham og lod ham bringe til Statsskriveren Jonatans Hus; thi det havde de gjort til Fængsel.
They were very angry with me. They [commanded the guards to] beat me and [then to] put me in the house where Jonathan the king’s secretary stayed. They had changed Jonathan’s house to make it become a prison.
16 Saaledes kom Jeremias i Fangehuset i Kælderen; og der sad han en Tid lang.
They put me in a dungeon/cell in that prison, and I remained there for several days.
17 Men Kong Zedekias sendte Bud og lod ham hente; og Kongen spurgte ham i al Hemmelighed i sit Palads: »Er der et Ord fra HERREN?« Jeremias svarede: »Ja, der er: Du skal overgives i Babels Konges Haand.«
Then King Zedekiah secretly sent a servant to me, who took me to the palace. There the king asked me, “Do you have any messages from Yahweh?” I replied, “Yes, [the message is that] you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
18 Derpaa sagde Jeremias til Kong Zedekias: »Hvad Synd har jeg gjort imod dig, dine Mænd og dette Folk, siden I har kastet mig i Fængsel?
Then I asked the king, “What crime have I committed [RHQ] against you or against your officials or against the Israeli people, with the result that you have [commanded that] I be put in a prison?
19 Og hvor er nu eders Profeter, som profeterede for eder, at Babels Konge ikke skulde komme over eder og dette Land?
Your prophets predicted that the army of the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land. Why were [RHQ] [their messages] not fulfilled?
20 Saa hør da, Herre Konge! Lad min Bøn naa dig og lad mig ikke bringe tilbage til Statsskriveren Jonatans Hus, at jeg ikke skal dø der!«
Your majesty, I plead with you to listen to me. Do not send me back to the dungeon/cell in the house of Jonathan your secretary, because [if you do that, ] I will die there.”
21 Da bød Kong Zedekias, at man skulde holde Jeremias i Varetægt i Vagtforgaarden; og der gaves ham daglig et Stykke Brød fra Bagerens Gade, indtil Brødet slap op i Byen. Saaledes sad nu Jeremias i Vagtforgaarden.
So King Zedekiah commanded that [I not be sent back to the prison cell. Instead, ] I was allowed to be watched by the guards in the courtyard [of the palace]. [The king] also [commanded that they should] bring me a loaf of fresh bread every day, until there was no bread left in the city. So [they put me] in that courtyard and I remained there.

< Jeremias 37 >