Jeremiah 26

1 In the bigynnyng of the rewme of Joachym, the sone of Josie, kyng of Juda, this word was maad of the Lord, and seide,

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

2 The Lord seide these thingis, Stonde thou in the porche of the hous of the Lord, and thou schalt speke to alle the citees of Juda, fro whiche thei comen for to worschipe in the hous of the Lord, alle the wordis whiche Y comaundide to thee, that thou speke to hem; nyle thou withdrawe a word;

“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 perauenture thei heren, and ben conuertid, ech man fro his yuele weie, and it repente me of the yuel which Y thouyte to do to hem for the malices of her studies.

[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 schalt seie to hem, The Lord seith these thingis, If ye heren not me, that ye go in my lawe which Y yaf to 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 that ye here the wordis of my seruauntis, profetis, whiche Y risynge bi niyte, and dressynge, sente to you, and ye herden not;

6 Y schal yyue this hous as Silo, and Y schal yyue this citee in to cursyng to alle folkis of erthe.

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 And the prestis, and profetis, and al the puple herden Jeremye spekynge these wordis in the hous 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 And whanne Jeremye hadde fillid spekynge alle thingis, whiche the Lord hadde comaundid to hym, that he schulde speke to al the puple, the prestis, and profetis, and al the puple token hym, and seiden, Die he bi deeth;

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 whi profesiede he in the name of the Lord, and seide, This hous schal be as Silo, and this citee schal be desolat, for no dwellere is? And al the puple was gaderid togidere ayens Jeremye, in the hous 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 the princes of Juda herden alle these wordis; and thei stieden fro the kyngis hous in to the hous of the Lord, and saten in the entryng of the newe yate of the hous of the Lord.

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 And the prestis and profetis spaken to the princes, and to al the puple, and seiden, Doom of deth is to this man, for he profesiede ayens this citee, as ye herden with youre eeris.

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 And Jeremye seide to alle the princes, and to al the puple, `and seide, The Lord sente me, that Y schulde prophesie to this hous, and to this citee, alle the wordis whiche ye herden.

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 Now therfor make ye good youre weies, and youre studies, and here ye the vois of youre Lord God; and it schal repente the Lord of the yuel which he spak ayens 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 Lo! forsothe Y am in youre hondis; do ye to me, as it is good and riytful bifore youre iyen.

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 Netheles wite ye, and knowe, that if ye sleen me, ye schulen bitraie innocent blood ayens you silf, and ayens this citee, and the dwelleris therof; for in trewthe the Lord sente me to you, that Y schulde speke in youre eeris alle these wordis.

[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 And the princes and al the puple seiden to the preestis and profetis, Doom of deth is not to this man; for he spak to vs in the name of oure Lord 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 Therfor men of the eldere men of the lond rysiden vp, and seiden to al the cumpanye of the puple,

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

18 and spaken, Mychee of Morasten was a profete in the daies of Ezechie, king of Juda; and he seide to al the puple of Juda, and seide, The Lord of oostis seith these thingis, Sion schal be erid as a feeld, and Jerusalem schal be in to an heep of stoonys, and the hil of the hous of the Lord schal be in to hiy thingis of woodis.

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 Whether Ezechie, kyng of Juda, and al Juda condempnede hym bi deth? Whether thei dredden not the Lord, and bisouyten the face of the Lord? and it repentide the Lord of the yuel which he spak ayens hem. Therfor do we not greet yuel ayens oure soulis.

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 Also Vrye, the sone of Semey, of Cariathiarym, was a man profesiynge in the name of the Lord; and he profesiede ayens this citee, and ayens this lond, bi alle the wordis of Jeremye.

[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 And kyng Joachym, and alle the myyti men, and princes of hem, herden these wordis; and the kyng souyte to sle hym; and Vrye herde, and dredde, and he fledde, and entride in to Egipt.

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 And kyng Joachym sente men in to Egipt, Elnathan, the sone of Achobor, and men with hym, in to Egipt;

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

23 and thei ledden Vrye out of Egipt, and brouyten hym to kyng Joachym; and the kyng killide hym bi swerd, and castide forth his careyn in the sepulcris of the comyn puple vnnoble.

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 Therfor the hond of Aicham, sone of Saphan, was with Jeremye, that he was not bitakun in to the hondis of the puple, and that it killide not hym.

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