Jeremiah 32
1 The word that was maad of the Lord to Jeremye, in the tenthe yeer of Sedechie, kyng of Juda; thilke is the eiytenthe yeer of Nabugodonosor.
After Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost ten years, Yahweh gave me another message, during the time that Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling [Babylonia] for almost 18 years.
2 Thanne the oost of the kyng of Babiloyne bisegide Jerusalem; and Jeremye, the profete, was closid in the porche of the prisoun, that was in the hous of the kyng of Juda.
His army was surrounding Jerusalem, and I was in a prison area in the courtyard where the guards of the king’s palace stayed.
3 For whi Sedechie, the kyng of Juda, hadde closid hym, and seide, Whi profesiest thou, seiynge, The Lord seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal yyue this citee in the hond of the kyng of Babyloyne, and he schal take it; and Sedechie,
King Zedekiah had put me there. I continued to prophesy there [about what would happen]. I continued to say, “Yahweh says that he is about to allow [the army of] the king of Babylon to capture this city [DOU].
4 the kyng of Juda, schal not ascape fro the hond of Caldeis, but he schal be bitake in to the hond of the kyng of Babiloyne; and his mouth schal speke with the mouth of hym, and hise iyen schulen se the iyen of hym;
And the soldiers of Babylonia will capture King Zedekiah and (take him to/put him in the hands of) the king of Babylon.
5 and he schal lede Sedechie in to Babiloyne, and he schal be there, til Y visyte hym, seith the Lord; forsothe if ye fiyten ayens Caldeis, ye schulen haue no thing in prosperite?
Then his [soldiers] will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will remain there until I arrange for him to be punished. And if he tries to fight against the soldiers from Babylonia, he will not succeed.”
6 And Jeremye seide, The word of the Lord was maad to me, and seide, Lo!
[At that time], Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
7 Ananeel, the sone of Sellum, the sone of thi fadris brothir, schal come to thee, and seie, Bi thou to thee my feeld, which is in Anathot; for it bifallith to thee by niy kynrede, that thou bie it.
“[Your cousin] Hanamel, the son of Shallum [your uncle], will come to you. He will say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, [your hometown]. [Because you are my closest relative], [it is written in our laws that] you have the right to buy it [before I ask if anyone else wants to buy it].’”
8 And Ananeel, the sone of my fadris brothir, cam to me, bi the word of the Lord, to the porche of the prisoun, and seide to me, Welde thou my feeld, which is in Anathot, in the lond of Beniamyn; for whi the erytage bifallith to thee, and thou art the next of blood, that thou welde it. Forsothe Y vndirstood, that it was the word of the Lord.
And just as Yahweh had predicted, my cousin Hanamel came to see me in the courtyard of the palace. He said, “[Please] buy my field at Anathoth in the area [where the descendants of] Benjamin live. It is written in our laws that you have the right to buy it [before I ask if anyone else wants to buy it.]” When he said that, I knew that the message that I had received was [truly] from Yahweh.
9 And Y bouyte the feeld, which is in Anathot, of Ananeel, the sone of my fadris brothir. And Y paiede to hym siluer, seuene stateris, and ten platis of siluer;
[So], I bought the field at Anathoth. I paid Hanamel 17 pieces of silver for it.
10 and Y wroot in a book, and Y seelide, and Y yaf witnessis. And Y weiede siluer in a balaunce;
I signed the paper/papyrus on which it was written that I was buying it, while others were watching/witnessing it. Then I weighed the silver [and gave it to him].
11 and Y took the book aseelid of possessioun, and axingis and answerys of the seller and bier, and couenauntis, and seelis withoutforth.
Then I took two copies of the paper/papyrus. One was sealed and the other was not sealed. On both of them was written the price and conditions of the purchase. I took both copies
12 And Y yaf the book of possessioun to Baruc, the sone of Neri, sone of Maasie, bifore the iyen of Ananeel, the sone of my fadris brother, and bifore the iyen of witnessis that weren writun in the book of biyng, bifore the iyen of alle Jewis, that saten in the porche of the prisoun.
and I gave them to Baruch, who was the son of Neraiah and the grandson of Mahseiah. I did this while my cousin Hanamel, the [other] witnesses who had signed the paper/papyrus, and other men of Judah who were there in the courtyard, were watching.
13 And Y comaundide to Baruc bifore hem,
[Then], while they were [all] listening, I said to Baruch,
14 and Y seide, The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Take thou these bookis, this seelid book of biyng, and this book which is opyn, and putte thou tho in an erthen vessel, that tho moun dwelle bi many daies.
“This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says: ‘Take both copies of this paper/papyrus and put them in a clay jar, to preserve them for a long time.
15 For whi the Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Yit housis, and feeldis, and vynes schulen be weldid in this lond.
[Do that] because this is what [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [you] Israelis [worship], say: “[Some day people will again own property] in this land, and they will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’”
16 And Y preiede to the Lord, aftir that Y bitook the book of possessioun to Baruc, the sone of Nery; and Y seide, Alas!
After I had given the papers/papyri to Baruch, I prayed to Yahweh, saying this:
17 alas! alas! Lord God, Lord, thou madist heuene and erthe in thi greet strengthe, and in thin arm stretchid forth; ech word schal not be hard to thee;
“Yahweh, [you are my] Lord! You made the sky and the earth by your very great power. [MTY, DOU] Nothing is too difficult for you [to do].
18 which doist merci in thousyndis, and yeldist the wickidnesse of fadris in to the bosum of her sones aftir hem. Thou strongeste, greet, myyti, Lord of oostis is name to thee;
You show thousands of people that you faithfully love them, but you punish people for the sins that their parents have committed. [You are the] great and powerful God, the Commander of the armies of angels.
19 greet in councel, and vncomprehensible in thouyt, whose iyen ben open on alle the weies of the sones of Adam, that thou yelde to ech aftir hise weies, and aftir the fruyt of hise fyndyngis;
You make wise plans and you do mighty deeds. You see how all people behave [DOU], and you do to them what they deserve.
20 which settidist signes and greet woundris in the lond of Egipt, `til to this dai, bothe in Israel and in men; and madist to thee a name, as this dai is.
You performed many miracles [DOU] in Egypt, and you continue [to perform miracles here] in Israel and everywhere else in the world. [Because of that], you have (become very famous/caused many people to know that you are very great/powerful).
21 And thou leddist thi puple Israel out of the lond of Egipt, in signes and in greet woundris, and in a strong hond, and in an arm holdun forth, and in greet dreed; and thou yauest to hem this lond,
You brought our Israeli ancestors out of Egypt by performing many great miracles [DOU], using your very great power [DOU], causing [our enemies to be] terrified.
22 which thou sworist to the fadris of hem, that thou woldist yyue to hem, a lond flowynge with milk and hony.
You gave to us Israeli people this land that you solemnly promised to give to our ancestors, a land that is very fertile [IDM].
23 And thei entriden, and hadden it in possessioun; and thei obeieden not to thi vois, and thei yeden not in thi lawe; alle thingis whiche thou comaundidist to hem to do, thei diden not; and alle these yuels bifellen to hem.
Our ancestors came here and conquered this land and started to live in it, but they refused to obey you or to do what you commanded them to do. Because of that, you have caused us to experience all these disasters.
24 Lo! strengthis ben bildid ayens the citee, that it be takun, and the citee is youun in to the hondis of Caldeis, and in to the hondis of the kyng of Babiloyne, that fiyten ayens it, of the face of swerd, and of hungur, and of pestilence; and what euer thingis thou spakest, bifellen, as thou thi silf seest.
And now, [the army] of Babylonia has built ramps up against our city [walls] in order to attack our city. Because of [our enemies’] swords and because of famines and diseases, they will be able to conquer it [easily]. The things that you said would happen have [now] happened.
25 And Lord God, thou seist to me, Bie thou a feeld for siluer, and yyue thou witnessis, whanne the citee is youun in the hondis of Caldeis.
[And it is evident that] the Babylonian army will soon conquer this city. So now, Yahweh my Lord, [I do not understand] why you told me to buy this field with my silver, while others were watching. [It seems that I have just been wasting my money by doing that]!”
26 And the word of the Lord was maad to Jeremye, and seide, Lo!
[Then] Yahweh gave me this message:
27 Y am the Lord God of `al fleisch. Whether ony word schal be hard to me?
“I am Yahweh, the God [who rules] all the people [in the world]. There is absolutely nothing [RHQ] that is too difficult for me [to do].
28 Therfor the Lord seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal bitake this citee in to the hondis of Caldeis, and in to the hond of the kyng of Babiloyne, and he schal take it.
So, this is what I say: [It is true that] I will enable the Babylonian army and King Nebuchadnezzar to capture this city.
29 And Caldeis schulen come, and fiyte ayens this citee, and thei schulen brenne it with fier, and thei schulen brenne it, and housis, in whose rooues thei sacrifieden to Baal, and offriden moist sacrifices to alien goddis, to terre me to wraththe.
The soldiers of Babylonia who are [now outside the walls] around the city will enter and burn this city. They will burn down [all] the houses where people caused me to become angry by burning incense on [the tops of] their roofs to [honor] Baal and by pouring out offerings of wine to other gods.
30 For whi the sones of Israel and the sones of Juda diden yuel contynueli, fro her yonge waxynge age, bifore myn iyen, the sones of Israel, whiche `til to now wraththen me bi the werk of her hondis, seith the Lord.
The people of Israel and Judah have continually done only evil things from the time that they became a nation. They have caused me to become very angry by all their evil deeds.
31 For whi this citee is maad to me in my strong veniaunce and indignacioun, fro the day in which thei bildiden it, `til to this dai, in which it schal be takun awei fro my siyt;
From the time that this city was built until now, the people of this city have done [only] things that caused me to be very angry [DOU]. So [now] I will destroy it.
32 for the malice of the sones of Israel, and of the sones of Juda, which thei diden, terrynge me to wrathfulnesse, thei, and the kyngis of hem, the princes of hem, and the prestis, and profetis of hem, the men of Juda, and the dwelleris of Jerusalem.
The people of Israel and Judah, [including] their kings, their officials, the priests, the [false] prophets, and all the other people in Jerusalem have committed many sins that have caused me to become angry.
33 And thei turneden to me the backis, and not the faces, whanne Y tauyte, and enformede hem erli; and thei nolden here, that thei schulden take techyng.
My people have turned away from me and have refused to return to me. Even though I taught them things many times, they would not pay attention to what I taught them, and they would not obey me.
34 And thei settiden her idols in the hous, in which my name is clepid to help, that thei schulden defoule it.
They have set up their detestable idols [even] in my own [MTY] temple and (defiled it/caused it to become a place that is unacceptable for people to worship me).
35 And thei bildiden hiy thingis to Baal, that ben in the valei of the sones of Ennon, that thei schulden halewe her sones and her douytris to Moloc, which thing Y comaundide not to hem, nether it stiede in to myn herte, that thei schulden do this abhomynacioun, and brynge Juda in to synne.
They have built shrines to [honor] Baal in Ben-Hinnom Valley [outside Jerusalem], and there they sacrifice their sons and daughters to [their god] Molech. I never commanded them to do such horrible things. I never even thought that anyone might do such a terrible thing. And by doing it they have caused [all the people of] Judah to [be guilty of having] sinned.”
36 And now for these thingis, the Lord God of Israel seith these thingis to this citee, of whiche ye seien, that it schal be bitakun in to the hondis of the kyng of Babiloyne, in swerd, and in hungur, and in pestilence, Lo!
“But now [I will say something more] about this city. You [people of Jerusalem] have been saying, ‘[The army of] the King of Babylon will conquer it, either by their swords or because of famines or diseases.’ But this is what [I], Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli people [say you belong to], say:
37 Y schal gadere hem fro alle londis, to whiche Y castide hem out in my strong veniaunce, and in my wraththe, and in greet indignacioun; and Y schal brynge hem ayen to this place, and Y schal make hem to dwelle tristili.
‘I will certainly bring my people back here again, from all the countries to which I will force them to go because I am extremely angry [DOU] with them. I will bring them back to this city and allow them to live here safely.
38 And thei schulen be in to a puple to me, and Y schal be in to God to hem.
They will be my people, and I will be their God.
39 And Y schal yyue to hem oon herte and o soule, that thei drede me in alle daies, and that it be wel to hem, and to her sones aftir hem.
I will cause them to have one way of thinking [IDM] and behaving, in order that they may revere me, for their good and for the good of their descendants.
40 And Y schal smyte to hem a couenaunt euerlastynge, and Y schal not ceese to do wel to hem, and Y schal yyue my drede in the herte of hem, that thei go not awey fro me.
I will make an agreement with them that will last forever: I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will encourage them to revere me and never turn away from me.
41 And Y schal be glad on hem, whanne Y schal do wel to hem; and Y schal plaunte hem in this lond in treuthe, in al myn herte, and in al my soule.
I will be happy to do good things for them, and I will surely enable them to return to this land and remain here [MET]; I will do that with all my inner being and all my strength.’
42 For the Lord seith these thingis, As Y brouyte on this puple al this greet yuel, so Y schal brynge on hem al the good, which Y schal speke to hem.
And this is [also] what [I], Yahweh, say: ‘I have caused them to experience all these disasters. Similarly, [some day] I will do for them all the good things that I have promised.
43 And feeldis schulen be weldid in this lond, of which ye seien, that it is desert, for no man and beeste is left; and it is youun in to the hondis of Caldeis.
[By buying land you, Jeremiah, have predicted that some day] people will buy and sell fields in this land about which you [people of Jerusalem] now say, “The Babylonian soldiers have destroyed it. It is [now] desolate. [It is a land where] there are no longer any people or animals.”
44 Feeldis schulen be bouyt for money, and schulen be writun in a book, and a seel schal be preentid; and witnessis schulen be youun, in the lond of Beniamyn, and in the cumpas of Jerusalem, and in the citees of Juda, and in the citees in hilli places, and in the citees in feeldi places, and in the citees that ben at the south; for Y schal turne the caitiftee of hem, seith the Lord.
[But some day] people will [again] buy [and sell] fields here. People will sign documents [about buying those fields], and [other people] will witness them doing that. [That will happen] in the land where [the descendants of] Benjamin live and [here] in the villages near Jerusalem, in [other] towns in Judah, in the hilly areas and in the foothills [to the west], and in the southern desert area, [too. Some day] I will cause them to prosper again. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.’”
