Jeremiah 26

1 In the beginning of the reigne of Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah, came this worde from the Lord, saying,

Soon after Jehoiakim became the king of Judah, Yahweh gave [me] this message:

2 Thus saith the Lord, Sande in the court of the Lordes House, and speake vnto all the cities of Iudah, which come to worshippe in the Lords House, all the wordes that I commaund thee to speake vnto them: keepe not a worde backe,

“This is what [I], Yahweh, am telling you: Stand in the courtyard [in front] of my temple, and speak to all [the people from] the various towns in Judah who come there to worship me. Tell them everything that I tell you; do not omit anything.

3 If so be they will hearken, and turne euery man from his euill way, that I may repent me of the plague, which I haue determined to bring vpon them, because of the wickednesse of their workes.

[If you do tell them everything], perhaps they will pay attention, and each one of them will turn away from his evil behavior. Then I will change my mind, and not cause them to experience the disaster that I was planning to cause them to experience because of the evil things that they have done.

4 And thou shalt say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord, If ye will not heare me to walke in my Lawes, which I haue set before you,

Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I sent to you the prophets who serve me, to tell you what you should do. I sent them to you many times, but you have not paid attention to what they said. If you will not pay attention to what I say and do not obey the message that I have given to you, and if you do not pay attention to what the prophets say,

5 And to heare ye wordes of my seruants the Prophets, whome I sent vnto you, both rising vp earely, and sending them, and will not obey them,

6 Then will I make this House like Shiloh, and will make this citie a curse to all the nations of the earth.

I will destroy this temple like I destroyed Shiloh, [the place where the Sacred Tent was put]. And I will cause Jerusalem to be a place whose name [people in] every nation on the earth will say when they curse someone.’”

7 So the Priestes, and the Prophets, and all the people heard Ieremiah speaking these wordes in the House of the Lord.

[When I did what Yahweh told me to do, ] the priests, the [false] prophets, and many [other] people listened to me as I told them that message outside the temple.

8 Nowe when Ieremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speake vnto all the people, then the Priestes, and the prophets, and all the people tooke him, and saide, Thou shalt die the death.

But as soon as I finished telling them everything that Yahweh had commanded me to say, they all seized me and said, “You must be executed!

9 Why hast thou prophecied in the Name of the Lord, saying, This House shall be like Shiloh, and this citie shalbe desolate without an inhabitant? and all the people were gathered against Ieremiah in the House of the Lord.

Why [RHQ] are you prophesying that this temple will be [destroyed] like Shiloh [was destroyed]? Why are you saying that this city will be destroyed, and that no one will live here [any more]? (OR, You should not be prophesying) [RHQ]” All the people surrounded me [as I stood] in [front of] the temple.

10 And when the princes of Iudah heard of these things, they came vp from the Kings house into the House of the Lord, and sate downe in the entrie of the new gate of the Lords House.

When the officials of Judah heard about all this [that was happening], they rushed from the palace and sat down at the gate of the temple named The New Gate, [to judge my case].

11 Then spake the Priestes, and the prophets vnto the princes, and to all the people, saying, This man is worthie to die: for he hath prophecied against this citie, as ye haue heard with your eares.

The priests and the [false] told the officials and the other people [who were there], “This man should be executed, because he has prophesied that this city [will be destroyed], and you yourselves [MTY] have heard him say that!”

12 Then spake Ieremiah vnto all the princes, and to al the people, saying, The Lord hath sent me to prophecie against this house and against this citie all the things that ye haue heard.

Then I replied to the officials and the other people, saying, “Yahweh sent me to prophesy all the things that you heard me say about [what will happen to] this temple and this city.

13 Therefore nowe amende your wayes and your workes, and heare the voyce of the Lord your God, that the Lord may repent him of the plague, that he hath pronounced against you.

But if you change your behavior and stop sinning, and [start to] obey Yahweh our God, he will change his mind, and not cause you to experience the disasters that he said that he would send.

14 As for me, beholde, I am in your hands: do with me as ye thinke good and right.

As for me, I am not able to free myself from your grasp. [So you can] do to me whatever you want to do.

15 But knowe ye for certaine, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood vpon your selues, and vpon this citie, and vpon the inhabitants thereof: for of a trueth the Lord hath sent me vnto you, to speake all these words in your eares.

[But you need to] know that if you kill me, you will be killing a man [SYN] who (is innocent/has not done anything wrong). And you and everyone else in this city will be guilty, because the truth is that it was Yahweh who sent me to speak every word that you have heard me say.”

16 Then saide the princes and all the people vnto the Priestes, and to the prophets, This man is not worthie to die: for he hath spoken vnto vs in the Name of the Lord our God.

Then the officials and the other people said to the priests and the [false] prophets, “This man does not deserve to be executed, because he has spoken to us the message [MTY] that Yahweh gave him!”

17 Then rose vp certaine of the Elders of the lande, and spake to all the assemblie of the people, saying,

Then some of the elders stood up and spoke to all the people who were gathered [there].

18 Michah the Morashite prophecied in the dayes of Hezekiah king of Iudah, and spake to al the people of Iudah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hostes, Zion shall be plowed like a fielde, and Ierusalem shalbe an heape, and the mountaine of the House shalbe as the hie places of the forest.

They said, “([Remember/Think about) what] Micah, [the prophet] from Moresheth [town], prophesied during the years that Hezekiah was the King of Judah. He told the people of Judah this: ‘This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: [Some day] Zion [Hill] will be plowed like fields [are plowed]; Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins. There will be a large clump/group of trees on top of the hill where the temple is now.’

19 Did Hezekiah King of Iudah, and all Iudah put him to death? did he not feare ye Lord, and prayed before the Lord, and the Lord repented him of the plague, that he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great euill against our soules.

But did [RHQ] King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah kill Micah [for saying that]? No! Instead, Hezekiah revered Yahweh, and pleaded that he would (act mercifully toward/not destroy) them. So, Yahweh changed his mind about causing them to experience the terrible disaster that he said he would send. And now [if we kill Jeremiah], we are going to cause ourselves to experience a terrible disaster!”

20 And there was also a man that prophecied in the Name of the Lord, one Vriiah the sonne of Shemaiah, of Kiriath-iarem, who prophecied against this citie, and against this lande, according to all the wordes of Ieremiah.

[At that time, ] the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-Jearim [city] was also prophesying/proclaiming messages [MTY] from Yahweh. He was predicting that the city and the rest of the land would experience the same disasters that I was predicting.

21 Nowe when Iehoiakim the King with all his men of power, and all the princes heard his wordes, the King sought to slay him. But when Vriiah heard it, he was afraide and fled, and went into Egypt.

When King Jehoiakim and his army officers and officials heard what Uriah was saying, the king sent someone to kill Uriah. But Uriah heard about it, and became [very] afraid, and he (escaped/ran away) to Egypt.

22 Then Iehoiakim the King sent men into Egypt, euen Elnathan the sonne of Achbor, and certaine with him into Egypt.

Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan the son of Acbor along with several other men to Egypt.

23 And they fet Vriiah out of Egypt, and brought him vnto Iehoiakim the King, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead bodie into the graues of the children of the people.

They captured Uriah and took him [back to Jerusalem] to King Jehoiakim. The king then [had a soldier] kill Uriah with a sword. Then they buried his corpse in a place where poor people are buried.

24 But the hande of Ahikam the sonne of Shaphan was with Ieremiah that they shoulde not giue him into the hande of the people to put him to death.

However, Ahikam the son of Shaphan defended me, and persuaded the officials not to allow [MTY] the mob to murder me.