Jeremias 38
1 At that time, says the Lord, I will be a God to the family of Israel, and they shall be to me a people.
Y OYÓ Sephatías hijo de Mathán, y Gedalías hijo de Pashur, y Jucal hijo de Selemías, y Pashur hijo de Melchîas, las palabras que Jeremías hablaba á todo el pueblo, diciendo:
2 Thus says the Lord, I found him warm in the wilderness with them that were slain with the sword: go you and destroy not Israel.
Así ha dicho Jehová: El que se quedare en esta ciudad morirá á cuchillo, ó de hambre, ó de pestilencia; mas el que saliere á los Caldeos vivirá, pues su vida le será por despojo, y vivirá.
3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, [saying], I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore have I drawn you in compassion.
Así ha dicho Jehová: De cierto será entregada esta ciudad en mano del ejército del rey de Babilonia, y tomarála.
4 For I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: you shall yet take your timbrel, and go forth with the party of them that make merry.
Y dijeron los príncipes al rey: Muera ahora este hombre; porque de esta manera hace desmayar las manos de los hombres de guerra que han quedado en esta ciudad, y las manos de todo el pueblo, hablándoles tales palabras; porque este hombre no busca la paz de este pueblo, sino el mal.
5 For you have planted vineyards on the mountains of Samaria: plant you, and praise.
Y dijo el rey Sedechîas: Helo ahí, en vuestras manos está; que el rey no podrá contra vosotros nada.
6 For it is a day when those that plead on the mountains of Ephraim shall call, [saying], Arise you, and go up to Sion to the Lord your God.
Entonces tomaron ellos á Jeremías, é hiciéronlo echar en la mazmorra de Malchîas hijo de Amelech, que estaba en el patio de la cárcel; y metieron á Jeremías con sogas. Y en la mazmorra no había agua, sino cieno; y hundióse Jeremías en el cieno.
7 For thus says the Lord to Jacob; Rejoice you, and exult over the head of the nations: make proclamation, and praise you: say, The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel.
Y oyendo Ebed-melec, hombre etiope, eunuco que estaba en casa del rey, que habían puesto á Jeremías en la mazmorra, y estando sentado el rey á la puerta de Benjamín,
8 Behold, I bring them from the north, and will gather them from the end of the earth to the feast of the passover: and [the people] shall beget a great multitude, and they shall return hither.
Ebed-melec salió de la casa del rey, y habló al rey, diciendo:
9 They went forth with weeping, and I will bring them back with consolation, causing them to lodge by the channels of waters in a straight way, and they shall not err in it: for I am become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Mi señor el rey, mal hicieron estos varones en todo lo que han hecho con Jeremías profeta, al cual hicieron echar en la mazmorra; porque allí se morirá de hambre, pues no hay más pan en la ciudad.
10 Hear the words of the Lord, you nations, and proclaim [them] to the islands afar off; say, He that scattered Israel will also gather him, and keep him as one that feeds his flock.
Entonces mandó el rey al mismo Ebed-melec Etiope, diciendo: Toma en tu poder treinta hombres de aquí, y haz sacar á Jeremías profeta de la mazmorra, antes que muera.
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them [that were] stronger than he.
Y tomó Ebed-melec en su poder hombres, y entró á la casa del rey al [lugar] debajo de la tesorería, y tomó de allí trapos viejos, traídos, viejos, y andrajosos, y echólos á Jeremías con sogas en la mazmorra.
12 And they shall come, and shall rejoice in the mount of Sion, and shall come to the good things of the Lord, [even] to a land of corn, and wine, and fruits, and cattle, and sheep: and their soul shall be as a fruitful tree; and they shall hunger no more.
Y dijo Ebed-melec Etiope á Jeremías: Pon ahora esos trapos viejos, traídos, y rotos, bajo los sobacos de tus brazos, debajo de las sogas. Y lo hizo así Jeremías.
13 Then shall the virgins rejoice in the assembly of youth, and the old men shall rejoice; and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will make them merry.
De este modo sacaron á Jeremías con sogas, y subiéronlo de la mazmorra; y quedó Jeremías en el patio de la cárcel.
14 I will expand and cheer with wine the soul of the priests the sons of Levi, and my people shall be satisfied with my good things: thus says the Lord.
Después envió el rey Sedechîas, é hizo traer á sí á Jeremías profeta á la tercera entrada que estaba en la casa de Jehová. Y dijo el rey á Jeremías: Pregúntote una palabra, no me encubras ninguna cosa.
15 A voice was heard in Rama, of lamentation, and of weeping, and wailing; Rachel would not cease weeping for her children, because they are not.
Y Jeremías dijo á Sedechîas: Si te lo denunciare, ¿no es verdad que me matarás? y si te diere consejo, no has de escucharme.
16 Thus says the Lord; Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from your tears: for their is a reward for your works; and they shall return from the land of [your] enemies.
Y juró el rey Sedechîas en secreto á Jeremías, diciendo: Vive Jehová que nos hizo esta alma, que no te mataré, ni te entregaré en mano de estos varones que buscan tu alma.
17 [There shall be] an dwelling [home] for your children.
Entonces dijo Jeremías á Sedechîas: Así ha dicho Jehová Dios de los ejércitos, Dios de Israel: Si salieres luego á los príncipes del rey de Babilonia, tu alma vivirá, y esta ciudad no será puesta á fuego; y vivirás tú y tu casa:
18 I have heard the sound of Ephraim lamenting, [and saying], You have chastened me, and I was chastened; I as a calf was not [willingly] taught: turn you me, and I shall turn; for you [are] the Lord my God.
Mas si no salieres á los príncipes del rey de Babilonia, esta ciudad será entregada en mano de los Caldeos, y la pondrán á fuego, y tú no escaparás de sus manos.
19 For after my captivity I repented; and after I knew, I groaned for the day of shame, and showed you that I bore reproach from my youth.
Y dijo el rey Sedechîas á Jeremías: Témome á causa de los Judíos que se han adherido á los Caldeos, que no me entreguen en sus manos y me escarnezcan.
20 Ephraim is a beloved son, a pleasing child to me: for because my words are in him, I will surely remember him: therefore I made haste [to help] him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord.
Y dijo Jeremías: No te entregarán. Oye ahora la voz de Jehová que yo te hablo, y tendrás bien, y vivirá tu alma.
21 Prepare yourself, O Sion; execute vengeance; look to your ways: return, O virgin of Israel, by the way by which you went, return mourning to your cities.
Mas si no quisieres salir, esta es la palabra que me ha mostrado Jehová:
22 How long, O disgraced daughter, will you turn away? for the Lord has created safety for a new plantation: men shall go about in safety.
Y he aquí que todas las mujeres que han quedado en casa del rey de Judá, serán sacadas á los príncipes del rey de Babilonia; y ellas mismas dirán: Te han engañado, y prevalecido contra ti tus amigos; atollaron en el cieno tus pies, se volvieron atrás.
23 For thus says the Lord; They shall yet speak this word in the land of Juda, and in the cities thereof, when I shall turn his captivity; blessed be the Lord on his righteous holy mountain!
Sacarán pues, todas tus mujeres y tus hijos á los Caldeos, y tú no escaparás de sus manos, sino que por mano del rey de Babilonia serás preso, y á esta ciudad quemará á fuego.
24 And there shall be dwellers in the cities of Juda, and in all his land, together with the husbandman, and [the shepherd] shall go forth with the flock.
Y dijo Sedechîas á Jeremías: Nadie sepa estas palabras, y no morirás.
25 For I have saturated every thirsting soul, and filled every hungry soul.
Y si los príncipes oyeren que yo he hablado contigo, y vinieren á ti y te dijeren: Decláranos ahora qué hablaste con el rey, no nos lo encubras, y no te mataremos; asimismo qué te dijo el rey;
26 Therefore I awake, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.
Les dirás: Supliqué al rey que no me hiciese tornar á casa de Jonathán porque no me muriese allí.
27 Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Juda with the seed of man, and the seed of beast.
Y vinieron luego todos los príncipes á Jeremías, y preguntáronle: y él les respondió conforme á todo lo que el rey le había mandado. Con esto se dejaron de él, porque el negocio no se había oído.
28 And it shall come to pass, that as I watched over them, to pull down, and to afflict, so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the Lord.
Y quedó Jeremías en el patio de la cárcel hasta el día que fué tomada Jerusalem; y [allí] estaba cuando Jerusalem fué tomada.
29 In those days they shall certainly not say, The fathers ate a sour grape, and the children's teeth were set on edge.
30 But every one shall die in his own sin; and the teeth of him that eats the sour grape shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda:
32 not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they abode not in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.
33 For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, says the Lord, I will surely put my laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
34 And they shall not at all teach every one his [fellow] citizen, and every one his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them: for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more.
35 Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, the moon and the stars for a light by night, and [makes] a roaring in the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; the Lord Almighty is his name:
36 if these ordinances cease from before me, says the Lord, then shall the family of Israel cease to be a nation before me forever.
37 Though the sky should be raised to a [greater] height, says the Lord, and though the ground of the earth should be sunk [lower] beneath, yet I will not cast off the family of Israel, says the Lord, for all that they have done.
38 Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Anameel to the gate of the corner.
39 And the measurement of it shall proceed in front of them as far as the hills of Gareb, and it shall be compassed with a circular wall of choice stones.
40 And all the Asaremoth even to Nachal Kedron, as far as the corner of the horse-gate eastward, shall be holiness to the Lord; and it shall not fail any more, and shall not be destroyed for ever.
