Jeremias 38

1 Men da Sjefatja Mattans Søn, Gedalja Pasjhurs Søn, Jukal Sjelemjas Søn og Pasjhur Malkijas Søn hørte Jeremias tale til alt Folket saaledes:

[Four officials, ] Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malkijah, heard what I had been telling all the people.

2 »Saa siger HERREN: Den, der bliver i denne By, skal dø ved Sværd, Hunger og Pest, men den, som overgiver sig til Kaldæerne, skal leve og vinde sit Liv som Bytte;

[I had been telling them] that Yahweh was saying, “Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die. They will be killed by [their enemies’] swords or from famines or from diseases. But those who surrender to the Babylonian army, they will be spared. They will not be killed.

3 thi saa siger HERREN: Denne By skal gives i Babels Konges Hærs Haand, og han skal indtage den« —

Yahweh also says that the army of the King of Babylon will certainly capture this city [DOU].”

4 da sagde Fyrsterne til Kongen: »Denne Mand maa dø, thi han tager Modet fra Krigsmændene, som er tilbage i denne By, og fra alt Folket ved at tale saaledes til dem; thi denne Mand tænker ikke paa dette Folks Vel, men paa dets Ulykke.«

So those officials [went] to the king and said, “This man [Jeremiah] should be executed! Because of what he is saying, he is discouraging our soldiers who remain in the city. He is also discouraging the people. He is not saying things that will help us; he is saying things that will defeat us.”

5 Kong Zedekias svarede: »Se, han er i eders Haand.« Thi Kongen evnede intet over for dem.

King Zedekiah said, “All right, do to him what you want to; I do not have the power to stop you.”

6 Saa tog de Jeremias og kastede ham i Kongesønnen Malkijas Cisterne i Vagtforgaarden, idet de hejsede ham ned med Reb. Der var ikke Vand i Cisternen, men Dynd, og Jeremias sank i Dyndet.

So those officials took me from my cell and lowered me by ropes into a well in the courtyard. The well belonged to Malkijah, who was a son of the king. There was no water in the well, but there was [a lot of] mud, so I sank [down deep] into the mud.

7 Imidlertid hørte Ætioperen Ebed-Melek, en Hofmand i Kongens Palads, at Jeremias var kastet i Cisternen; og da Kongen var i Benjaminsporten,

But Ebed-Melech, a palace official from Ethiopia, heard [someone say] that I was in the well. [At that time] the king was deciding/judging people’s cases at the Benjamin Gate.

8 gik Ebed-Melek fra Paladset og talte saaledes til Kongen:

Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to the king,

9 »Herre Konge, ilde har de gjort ved at lade denne Mand dø af Hunger, fordi der ikke er mere Brød i Byen!«

“Your majesty, those men have done a very evil thing. They have put the prophet Jeremiah in a well. [Almost] all the food in the city is gone, [so they will not be able to bring him any food] and as a result he will die from hunger!”

10 Saa bød Kongen Ætioperen Ebed-Melek: »Tag tredive Mænd med herfra og drag Profeten Jeremias op af Cisternen, før han dør!«

So the king told Ebed-Melech, “Take thirty of my men/soldiers with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the well, in order that he does not die!”

11 Ebed-Melek tog Mændene med og gik til Kælderen under Skatkammeret i Kongens Palads, hvor han hentede nogle Klude af slidte og iturevne klæder; dem hejsede han med Reb ned til Jeremias i Cisternen,

So Ebed-Melech took thirty men with him and they went into a room in the palace below the room where they stored very valuable things. There they found some old rags and discarded clothing. They took those things and went to the well. They fastened them to a rope and lowered the rope to me.

12 idet han sagde: »Læg Kludene om Rebet!« Det gjorde Jeremias,

Then Ebed-Melech called down to me, “Put these rags underneath your armpits, to protect you from [being injured by] the ropes!” So I did that.

13 og de drog ham op af Cisternen med Rebet. Saaledes kom Jeremias atter til at sidde i Vagtforgaarden.

Then they pulled me out of the well. I [returned] to the courtyard where the palace guards stayed, and I stayed there.

14 Kong Zedekias sendte Bud og lod Profeten Jeremias hente til sig i Livvagtens Indgang til HERRENS Hus. Og Kongen sagde til ham: »Jeg vil spørge dig om noget, dølg intet for mig!«

[One day] King Zedekiah summoned me, and I was brought to the king, [who was waiting for me] at the entrance of the temple. He said to me, “I want to ask you something. I want you [to answer me truthfully, and] and to not conceal anything.”

15 Jeremias svarede Zedekias: »Hvis jeg siger dig det, vil du da ikke lade mig dræbe? Og selv om jeg raader dig, vil du dog ikke høre mig.«

I replied, “If I tell you [the truth], you will [command that I] be executed. And if I give you [good] advice, you will not pay attention to what I say.”

16 Da tilsvor Kong Zedekias i al Hemmelighed Jeremias: »Saa sandt HERREN lever, som har skabt vor Sjæl, jeg vil ikke lade dig dræbe eller give dig i disse Mænds Haand, som staar dig efter Livet.«

But King Zedekiah secretly promised me, “[Tell me the truth]! And as surely as Yahweh lives, I will not [cause] you to be executed, and I will not hand you over to those who are wanting to kill you.”

17 Saa sagde Jeremias til Zedekias: »Saa siger HERREN, Hærskarers Gud, Israels Gud: Hvis du overgiver dig til Babels Konges Fyrster, skal du redde dit Liv; denne By skal ikke afbrændes, og du og dit Hus skal blive i Live;

[So] then I said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, you and your family will (be spared/not be killed), and this city will not be burned.

18 men overgiver du dig ikke til dem, skal Byen gives i Kaldæernes Haand, og de skal afbrænde den, og du skal ikke undslippe deres Haand.«

But if you refuse to surrender to them, you will not escape. And the army from Babylonia will capture this city and completely burn it.’”

19 Men Kong Zedekias sagde til Jeremias: »Jeg er ræd for de Judæere, der er løbet over til Kaldæerne, at Kaldæerne skal overgive mig i deres Haand, og at de skal drive Spot med mig.«

The king replied, “But I am afraid [to surrender to the soldiers from Babylon], because their officers may hand me over to the people of Judah who have already joined the soldiers from Babylonia, and those people from Judah will mistreat me.”

20 Saa sagde Jeremias: »Det gør de ikke! Adlyd kun HERRENS Ord, som jeg taler til dig, saa skal det gaa dig vel, og du skal blive i Live.

I replied, “If you obey Yahweh by doing what I tell you to do, they will not hand you over to our people. Things will go well for you, and you will remain alive.

21 Men vægrer du dig ved at overgive dig, saa hør nu, hvad HERREN har ladet mig skue:

But if you refuse to surrender, this is what Yahweh has revealed to me:

22 Se, alle Kvinder, der er tilbage i Judas Konges Palads, førtes ud til Babels Konges Fyrster, medens de sang: Dig forledte og tvang dine gode Venner, de ledte din Fod i en Sump og trak sig tilbage.

All the women who remain in your palace will be brought out and given to the officers of the king of Babylon. Then those women will say to you: ‘You had friends whom [you thought] you could trust, but they have deceived you and caused you to make a wrong decision. Now [it is as though] you are stuck in mud, and your friends have abandoned you.’

23 Alle dine Hustruer og Børn skal føres ud til Kaldæerne, og du skal ikke undslippe deres Haand, men gribes af Babels Konges Haand, og denne By skal afbrændes!«

All of your wives and children [in the city] will be led out to the soldiers from Babylonia, and you also will not escape. [The soldiers of] the King of Babylon will seize you, and they will burn down this city.”

24 Saa sagde Zedekias til Jeremias: »Ingen maa vide noget om denne Samtale, ellers er du dødsens;

Then Zedekiah said to me, “Do not tell anyone what you told me; if you tell anyone, my officials may kill you.

25 og hvis Fyrsterne skulde faa Nys om, at jeg har talt med dig, og komme til dig og sige: Sig os, hvad du sagde til Kongen; dølg ikke noget for os, ellers dræber vi dig; sig os ogsaa, hvad Kongen sagde til dig!

If my officials find out that I talked to you, perhaps they will come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you and the king were talking about. If you do not tell us, we will kill you.’

26 sig saa til dem: Jeg fremførte en ydmyg Bøn for Kongen om ikke at lade mig føre tilbage til Jonatans Hus for at dø der.«

If that happens, [just] tell them that you pleaded with me not to send you back to the [dungeon/cell in] Jonathan’s house, [because you were afraid that] you would die [if you were put there again].”

27 Og alle Fyrsterne kom til Jeremias og spurgte ham; og han svarede dem nøje, som Kongen havde paabudt. Saa lod de ham i Fred, eftersom Sagen ikke var blevet kendt.

And [that is what happened]. The king’s officials came to me and asked [why the king had summoned me. But] I told them what the king told me to tell them. So they did not ask me any more [questions], because no one had heard what the king and I had said to each other.

28 Saaledes sad Jeremias i Vagtforgaarden, lige til den Dag Jerusalem blev indtaget.

So I remained being guarded in the courtyard [of the palace], until the day that [the army of Babylonia] captured Jerusalem.