Jeremiah 29

1 And these ben the wordis of the book, whiche Jeremye, the profete, sente fro Jerusalem to the residues of eldere men of passyng ouer, and to the preestis, and to the profetis, and to al the puple, whom Nabugodonosor hadde ledde ouer fro Jerusalem in to Babiloyne,

After King Jehoiachin, his mother, his palace officials, other officials in Judah, and all the various kinds of craftsmen [DOU] had been exiled to Babylon, I wrote a letter to the elders, the priests, the prophets and all the other people who had been taken from Jerusalem to Babylon by [soldiers of] Nebuchadnezzar.

2 after that Jeconye, the kyng, yede out, and the ladi, and the onest seruauntis and chast, and the princis of Juda yeden out of Jerusalem, and a sutel crafti man, and a goldsmyth of Jerusalem,

3 in the hond of Elasa, sone of Saphan, and of Gamalie, the sone of Elchie, whiche Sedechie, the kyng of Juda, sente to Nabugodonosor, the kyng of Babiloyne, in to Babiloyne.

[I gave] the letter to Elasah the son of Shaphan, and to Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, when they were about to go to Babylon to be ambassadors from King Zedekiah to King Nebuchadnezzar. This is what I wrote in the letter:

4 And Jeremye seide, The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis to al the passyng ouer, which Y translatide fro Jerusalem in to Babiloyne,

This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says to all you people who were captured [here] in Jerusalem and taken [there] to Babylon:

5 Bilde ye housis, and enhabite, and plaunte ye orcherdis, and ete ye fruyt of tho;

“Build houses [there], and plan to stay there [because you will be there for many years]. Plant gardens, and eat the food that is produced in the gardens.

6 take ye wyues, and gendre ye sones and douytris, and yyue ye wyues to youre sones, and yyue ye youre douytris to hosebondis, and bere thei sones and douytris; and be ye multiplied there, and nyle ye be fewe in noumbre.

Get married and have children. Then [when they grow up], choose wives for your sons, and husbands for your daughters, in order that they [also] may have children. [In that way], the number of you people will increase, not decrease.

7 And seke ye pees of the citees, to whiche Y made you to passe ouer; and preie ye the Lord for it, for in the pees therof schal be pees to you.

Also, do things that will cause things to go well [for the other people there] in the city where I sent you. Pray that things will go well for [the people in] that city, because if things go well for them, things will go well for you, [also].”

8 The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Youre profetis, that ben in the myddis of you, and youre dyuynours disseyue you not; and take ye noon heede to youre dremes, whiche ye dremen;

This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israeli people [worship], says: “There are [false] prophets and fortune-tellers among you. Do not allow them to deceive you. Do not pay attention to [them when they tell you] their dreams,

9 for thei profesien falsli to you in my name, and Y sente not hem, seith the Lord.

because they are telling you lies, saying that [MTY] [I have given them the messages that they are telling you]. But, I have not appointed them.”

10 For the Lord seith thes thingis, Whanne seuenti yeer bigynnen to be fillid in Babiloyne, Y schal visite you, and Y schal reise on you my good word, and Y schal brynge you ayen to this place.

This is [also] what Yahweh says: “After you [and your children] have been in Babylon for seventy years, I will help you, and do for you the things that I promised, and I will enable you to return here [to Jerusalem].

11 For Y knowe the thouytis whiche Y thenke on you, seith the Lord, the thouytis of pees, and not of turment, that Y yyue to you an ende and pacience.

I, Yahweh, know what I have planned for you. I am planning to cause things to go well for you, not to cause you to experience disasters. I am planning to give you many things that you confidently expect to receive in the future.

12 And ye schulen clepe me to help, and ye schulen go, and schulen worschipe me, and Y schal here you;

At that time, when you pray, I will heed you.

13 ye schulen seke me, and ye schulen fynde, whanne ye seken me in al youre herte.

If you earnestly desire for me [to bless you], you will experience me [blessing you].

14 And Y schal be foundun of you, seith the Lord, and Y schal brynge ayen youre caitifte, and Y schal gadere you fro alle folkis, and fro alle places, to whiche Y castide out you, seith the Lord; and Y schal make you to turne ayen fro the place, to which Y made you to passe ouer.

I will make my help available to you [IDM]. I will cause you to no longer be slaves [in Babylon]. I will gather you from all the nations to which I have exiled you, and I will bring you back [here to your own land], to the place from which you were taken.”

15 For ye seiden, The Lord schal reise profetis to vs in Babiloyne.

[Some of] you say that Yahweh has appointed prophets for you [there] in Babylon.

16 For the Lord seith these thingis to the kyng, that sittith on the seete of Dauid, and to al the puple, dwellere of this citee, to youre britheren, that yeden not out with you in to the passyng ouer,

But this is what Yahweh says about the king who rules [here] in Jerusalem, and about all the other people who are [still] living here—your relatives who were not taken to Babylon with you.

17 The Lord of oostis seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal sende among hem swerd, and hungur, and pestilence; and Y schal sette hem as yuele figis, that moun not be etun, for tho ben ful yuele.

The Commander of the armies of angels says this: “I will cause them to experience wars and famines and diseases. I will cause them to become like [SIM] bad figs that are very rotten, with the result that no one can eat them.

18 And Y schal pursue hem in swerd, and in hungur, and in pestilence; and Y schal yyue hem in to trauelyng in alle rewmes of erthe, in to cursyng, and in to wondryng, and in to scornyng, and in to schenschipe to alle folkis, to whiche Y castide hem out.

I will not stop causing them to experience wars and famines and diseases. And I will scatter them all around the world. In every country where I (force them to be taken/exile them), I will cause them to be people whom [others] curse and be horrified about and make fun of [DOU].

19 For thei herden not my wordis, seith the Lord, which Y sente to hem bi my seruauntis, profetis, and roos bi nyyt, and sente, and ye herden not, seith the Lord.

[That will happen] because they have refused to pay attention to my messages, messages that I gave to the prophets whom I sent to them. And you [who have been exiled to Babylon] have not paid attention to them, [either].” [That is what] Yahweh says.

20 Therfor al the passyng ouer, which Y sente out fro Jerusalem in to Babiloyne, here ye the word of the Lord.

[Therefore], you people who have been (exiled/forced to go) from Jerusalem to Babylon, listen to this message from Yahweh.

21 The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis to Achab, the sone of Chulie, and to Sedechie, the sone of Maasie, that profesien to you a leesyng in my name, Lo! Y schal bitake hem in to the hond of Nabugodonosor, kyng of Babiloyne, and he schal smyte hem bifore youre iyen.

This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says about Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and about Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are telling lies to you, saying that they are giving messages [MTY] from him: “They will be seized and taken to [MTY] King Nebuchadnezzar, who will cause them to be executed while you are watching.

22 And cursyng schal be takun of hem to al the passyng ouer of Juda, which is in Babiloyne, of men seiynge, The Lord sette thee as Sedechie, and as Achab, whiche the kyng of Babiloyne friede in fier,

Because of [what will happen to] them, all you people who have been taken from Judah to Babylon will say this when they curse someone: ‘I hope/wish that Yahweh will do to you the same thing that he did to Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the King of Babylon caused to be [killed by being] burned in a fire.’

23 for thei diden foli in Israel, and diden auowtrie on the wyues of her frendis; and thei spaken a word falsli in my name, which Y comaundide not to hem; Y am iuge and witnesse, seith the Lord.

They have done terrible things to [my] Israeli people. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken lies, saying that they were messages [MTY] from me. They have said things that I did not tell them to say, and I, Yahweh, have heard them [say those things].”

24 And thou schalt seie to Semei Neelamyte,

[Yahweh told me to] send this message to Shemaiah, a man from Nehelam [town who was living in Babylon]:

25 The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, For that that thou sentist bookis in my name to al the puple, which is in Jerusalem, and to Sofony, the sone of Maasie, the preest, and to alle the prestis,

This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says: “You wrote a letter that no one told you to write. You sent it to Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, and [you sent copies] to the other priests and all the [other] people here in Jerusalem. [This is what] you wrote to him:

26 and seidist, The Lord yaf thee the preest for Joiada, the preest, that thou be duyk in the hous of the Lord on ech man `that is trauelid of the fend, and profesiynge, that thou sende hym in to stockis, and in to prisoun.

[Zephaniah], Yahweh has appointed you to be the priest instead of Jehoiada, to supervise those who work in the temple. Anyone who acts like a crazy man and who claims that he is a prophet, you should put his arms and legs and head into (stocks/a wooden frame [so that he cannot move)].

27 And now whi blamest thou not Jeremye of Anathot, that profesieth to you?

So why have you not done anything to stop Jeremiah, the man from Anathoth [town], who [pretends that he] is a prophet among you?

28 For on this thing he sente to vs in to Babiloyne, and seide, It is long; bielde ye housis, and enhabite, and plaunte ye orcherdis, and ete ye the fruit of tho.

He sent a letter to us [who are here] in Babylon, saying that [we will be here for] a long time. He said that [therefore] we should build houses and plan to stay here, and plant gardens, and eat the food that is produced in the gardens.”

29 Therfor Sofonye, the preest, redde this book in the eeris of Jeremye, the prophete.

[But when] Zephaniah the priest [received] the letter from you, he [brought it to me and] read it to me.

30 And the word of the Lord was maad to Jeremye,

Then Yahweh gave me this message:

31 and seide, Sende thou to al the passyng ouer, and seie, The Lord seith these thingis to Semeye Neelamite, For that that Semeye profesiede to you, and Y sente not hym, and he made you to triste in a leesyng;

“Send this message to all the people [from Judah] who are there [in Babylon]. Say that this is what Yahweh says about Shemaiah, the man from Nehelam: ‘I did not appoint him, but he has deceived you and caused you to believe the lies that he prophesied.

32 therfor the Lord seith thes thingis, Lo! Y schal visite on Semeye Neelamyte, and on his seed; and no man sittynge in the myddis of this puple schal be to hym; and he schal not se the good, which Y schal do to my puple, seith the Lord, for he spak trespassyng ayens the Lord.

So, I will punish him and his family. He has incited you to rebel against me. Because of that, all of his descendants will soon die. I will do [many] good things for [you], my people, but he and his descendants will not see those things, [because they will be dead]. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it!’”