Jeremiah 52
1 Sedechie was a sone of oon and twenti yeer, whanne he bigan to regne, and he regnede enleuene yeer in Jerusalem; and the name of his modir was Amychal, the douyter of Jeremye of Lobna.
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became the King [of Judah]. He ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of [a man named] Jeremiah from Libnah [town].
2 And he dide yuels bifore the iyen of the Lord, bi alle thingis whiche Joachym hadde do.
Zedekiah did [many] things that Yahweh says are evil, like [his father] Jehoiakim had done.
3 For the stronge veniaunce of the Lord was in Jerusalem, and in Juda, til he castide hem awey fro his face. And Sedechie yede awei fro the kyng of Babiloyne.
[The events that are summarized here happened] because Yahweh was angry with [the people of] Jerusalem and [of other places in] Judah, and finally he (exiled them/forced them to go to other countries) [and said that he did not want to have anything to do with] them any more. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4 Forsothe it was don in the nynthe yeer of his rewme, in the tenthe monethe, in the tenthe dai of the monethe, Nabugodonosor, the kyng of Babiloyne, cam, he and al his oost, ayens Jerusalem; and thei bisegiden it, and bildiden ayens it strengthis in cumpas.
[So, ] on January 15, when Zedekiah had been ruling for almost nine years, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built dirt ramps up to the top of the city walls [to enable them to attack the city].
5 And the citee was bisegid, til to the enleuenthe yeer of the rewme of Sedechie.
They continued to surround Jerusalem until Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years.
6 Forsothe in the fourthe monethe, in the nynthe dai of the monethe, hungur helde the citee; and foodis weren not to the puple of the lond.
When Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years, by July 18 of that year, the (famine/lack of food) in the city had become very severe, and there was no [more] food for the people [to eat].
7 And the citee was brokun, and alle men werriouris therof fledden; and thei yeden out of the citee in the niyt, bi the weie of the yate, which is bitwixe twei wallis, and ledith to the gardyn of the kyng, while Caldeis bisegiden the citee in cumpas; and thei yeden forth bi the weie that ledith in to desert.
Then [the soldiers of Babylonia] broke through [a section of] the city wall, and all the [Israeli] soldiers fled. But because the city was surrounded by soldiers from Babylonia, [Zedekiah and the Israeli] soldiers [waited until] it became dark. Then they left the city through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they ran towards the Jordan River Valley.
8 Sotheli the oost of Caldeis pursuede the kyng; and thei token Sedechie in desert, which is bisidis Jerico, and al his felouschipe fledde awei fro hym.
But the soldiers of Babylonia pursued King Zedekiah, and they caught up with him on the plains near Jericho. [He was alone because] all his men had deserted him and had scattered.
9 And whanne thei hadden take the kyng, thei brouyten hym to the kyng of Babiloyne in Reblatha, which is in the lond of Emath; and the kyng of Babiloyne spak domes to hym.
The soldiers of Babylonia took him to the king of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the Hamath [region]. There the king of Babylon told [his soldiers what] they should do to punish Zedekiah.
10 And the kyng of Babiloyne stranglide the sones of Sedechie bifore hise iyen; but also he killide alle the princes of Juda in Rablatha.
They forced Zedekiah to watch while they killed his sons and all the officials from Judah.
11 And he puttide out the iyen of Sedechie, and boond hym in stockis; and the kyng of Babiloyne brouyte hym in to Babiloyne, and puttide hym in the hous of prisoun, til to the dai of his deth.
[Then] they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They fastened him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. They put him in a prison, and he remained there until the day that he died.
12 Forsothe in the nynthe monethe, in the tenthe dai of the monethe, thilke is the nyntenthe yeer of the kyng of Babiloyne, Nabusardan, the prince of chyualrie, that stood bifore the kyng of Babiloyne, cam in to Jerusalem.
On August 17 of that year, which was when King Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost 19 years, Nebuzaradan, who was the captain of the king’s bodyguards and one of the king’s officials, arrived in Jerusalem.
13 And he brente the hous of the Lord, and the hous of the kyng, and alle the housis of Jerusalem; and he brente with fier ech greet hous.
He [commanded his soldiers to] burn down the temple of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. They [also] destroyed all the important buildings [in the city].
14 And al the ost of Caldeis, that was with the maistir of chyualrie, distriede al the wal of Jerusalem bi cumpas.
Then he supervised the soldiers from Babylonia while they tore down the walls on all sides of Jerusalem.
15 Sotheli Nabusardan, the prince of chyualrie, translatide of the pore men of the puple, and of the residue comyn puple, that was left in the citee, and of the fleeris ouer, that fledden ouer to the kyng of Babiloyne; and he translatide other men of the multitude.
Then Nebuzaradan (forced to go/exiled) [to Babylon] some of the poorest people, those Israelis who had said they would support the king of Babylon, the rest of the craftsmen, and other people who had remained in Jerusalem.
16 But Nabusardan, the prince of chyualrie, lefte of the pore men of the lond vyne tilers, and erthe tilers.
But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the very poor people to remain [in Judah] to take care of the vineyards and fields.
17 Also Caldeis brakun the brasun pilers, that weren in the hous of the Lord, and the foundementis, and the brasun waischyng vessel, that was in the hous of the Lord; and thei token al the metal of tho in to Babiloyne.
The soldiers from Babylonia broke [into pieces] the [huge] bronze pillars that were in front of the temple, and the [large] bronze water tank, and the [ten bronze water] carts, and they took all the bronze to Babylon.
18 And thei tokun cawdruns, and fleischokis, and sautrees, and violis, and morteris, and alle brasun vessels, that weren in seruyce;
They also took away the basins [for holding the ashes from the burned sacrifices], the shovels [for cleaning out the ashes], the tools for snuffing out the wicks of the lamps, the basins [for holding the blood of the sacrificed animals], the dishes [for incense], and all the [other] bronze items that were used when sacrifices were made at the temple.
19 thei token also `watir pottis, and vessels of encense, and pottis, and basyns, and candilstikis, and morters, and litle cuppis; hou manye euere goldun, goldun, and hou manye euere siluerne, siluerne.
Nebuzaradan also [told his soldiers to] take away the small bowls, the dishes for burning incense, the basins, pots, lampstands, bowls [for incense], and the bowls used for pouring out the wine offerings. They took all the other items that were made of pure gold or silver.
20 The maister of chyualrie took twei pilers, and o waischyng vessel, and twelue brasun caluys, that weren vndur the foundementis, whiche kyng Salomon hadde maad in the hous of the Lord. No weiyte was of the metal of alle these vessels.
The bronze from the two pillars, the [large water] tank and the twelve statues of oxen that were beneath it, and the water carts, was more/heavier than they could weigh. Those things had been made for the temple during the time that Solomon was the king.
21 Forsothe of the pilers, eiytene cubitis of heiythe weren in o piler, and a roop of twelue cubitis cumpasside it; certis the thickenesse therof was of foure fyngris, and was holowe withynne.
Each of the pillars was (27 feet/8 meters) tall and (18 feet/5.5 meters) around. They were hollow, and each had sides/walls that were (3 in./8 cm.) thick.
22 And brasun pomels weren on euer either; and the heiythe of a pomel was of fyue cubitis; and werkis lijk nettis and pumgranatis weren on the coroun `in cumpas.
The bronze head on the top of each pillar was (7-1/2 feet/over 2 meters) high and was decorated all around with a bronze [network of figures that represented] pomegranates.
23 And the pumgranatis weren nynti and sixe hangynge doun, and alle pumgranatis weren cumpassid with an hundred werkis lijk nettis.
There was a total of 100 figures of pomegranates on the network at the top, 96 of which could be seen from the ground.
24 And the maister of the chyualrie took Saraie, the firste preest, and Sophonye, the secounde preest, and three keperis of the vestiarie.
When Nebuzaradan [returned to Babylon], he took [with him as prisoners] Seraiah the Supreme Priest, Zephaniah who was Seraiah’s deputy, and the three men who guarded the entrances [to the temple].
25 And of the citee he took o chast seruaunt and onest, that was souereyn on the men werriours; and seuene men of hem that sien the face of the kyng, whiche weren foundun in the citees; and a scryuen, prince of knyytis, that preuyde yonge knyytis; and sixti men of the puple of the lond, that weren foundun in the myddis of the citee.
He found [some other] people who were [hiding] in the city. [So] from them he took a commander of the army [of Judah], seven of the king’s advisors, the army commander’s chief secretary who was in charge of recruiting [soldiers for the army], and 60 [other] soldiers.
26 Forsothe Nabusardan, the maistir of chyualrie, took hem, and brouyte hem to the kyng of Babiloyne in Reblatha.
Nebuzaradan took them all to the king of Babylon, [who was still] at Riblah.
27 And the kyng of Babiloyne smoot hem, and killide hem in Reblatha, in the lond of Emath; and Juda was translatid fro his lond.
There at Riblah in the Hamath region, the king of Babylon commanded that they [all] be executed. [Many of the people of] Judah were (forced to leave/exiled from) their own land.
28 This is the puple, whom Nabugodonosor translatide in the seuenthe yeer; Jewis, thre thousynde and thre and twenti.
The number of people who were captured and sent to Babylon at that time, when Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost seven years, was 3,023.
29 In the eiytenthe yeer, Nabugodonosor translatide fro Jerusalem eiyte hundrid and two and thritti persoones.
Then, when he had been ruling for almost 18 years, his [soldiers] took 832 [more Israeli people to Babylonia].
30 In the thre and twentithe yeer of Nabugodonosor, Nabusardan, the maister of chyualrie, translatide seuene hundrid and fyue and fourti persoones of Jewis. Therfor alle the persoones weren foure thousynde and sixe hundrid.
When he had been ruling almost 23 years, he sent Nebuzaradan [to Jerusalem again], and he brought back 745 [more Israelis to Babylonia]. That was a total of 4,600 Israelis [who were taken to Babylonia].
31 And it was doon, in the seuene and threttithe yeer of the passyng ouer of Joachym, kyng of Juda, in the tweluethe monethe, in the fyue and twentithe dai of the monethe, Euylmerodach, kyng of Babiloyne, reiside in that yeer of his rewme the heed of Joachym, kyng of Juda; and ledde hym out of the hous of the prisoun,
After King Jehoiachin of Judah had been in prison [in Babylon] for almost thirty-seven years, Evil-Merodach became the king of Babylon. He was kind to Jehoiachin and ordered that he be released from prison. That was on March 31 of the year that Evil-Merodach became king.
32 and spak good thingis with hym. And he settide the trone of him aboue the trones of kyngis, that weren after hym in Babiloyne,
He [always] spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a position in which he was honored more than [all] the other kings [who had been exiled/taken to Babylon].
33 and chaungide the clothis of his prisoun. And Joachym eet breed bifore hym euere, in alle the daies of his lijf;
He [supplied new clothes] for Jehoiachin, to replace the clothes that he had been wearing in prison. [He also allowed] Jehoiachin to eat with him every day, all during the rest of his life.
34 and hise metis, euerlastynge metis weren youun to hym of the kyng of Babiloyne, ordeyned bi ech dai, til to the dai of his deth, in alle the daies of his lijf. And it was don, aftir that Israel was led in to caitiftee, and Jerusalem was distried, Jeremye, the profete, sat wepinge, and biweilide Jerusalem with this lamentacioun; and he siyyide, and weilide with bitter soule, and seide.
Every day, the King [of Babylon] gave him some money [to buy the things that he needed. That continued] until the day that Jehoiachin died.
