Ἱερεμίας 38

1 ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ ἐκείνῳ εἶπεν κύριος ἔσομαι εἰς θεὸν τῷ γένει Ισραηλ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν

[Four officials, ] Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malkijah, heard what I had been telling all the people.

2 οὕτως εἶπεν κύριος εὗρον θερμὸν ἐν ἐρήμῳ μετὰ ὀλωλότων ἐν μαχαίρᾳ βαδίσατε καὶ μὴ ὀλέσητε τὸν Ισραηλ

[I had been telling them] that Yahweh was saying, “Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die. They will be killed by [their enemies’] swords or from famines or from diseases. But those who surrender to the Babylonian army, they will be spared. They will not be killed.

3 κύριος πόρρωθεν ὤφθη αὐτῷ ἀγάπησιν αἰωνίαν ἠγάπησά σε διὰ τοῦτο εἵλκυσά σε εἰς οἰκτίρημα

Yahweh also says that the army of the King of Babylon will certainly capture this city [DOU].”

4 ἔτι οἰκοδομήσω σε καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσῃ παρθένος Ισραηλ ἔτι λήμψῃ τύμπανόν σου καὶ ἐξελεύσῃ μετὰ συναγωγῆς παιζόντων

So those officials [went] to the king and said, “This man [Jeremiah] should be executed! Because of what he is saying, he is discouraging our soldiers who remain in the city. He is also discouraging the people. He is not saying things that will help us; he is saying things that will defeat us.”

5 ἔτι φυτεύσατε ἀμπελῶνας ἐν ὄρεσιν Σαμαρείας φυτεύσατε καὶ αἰνέσατε

King Zedekiah said, “All right, do to him what you want to; I do not have the power to stop you.”

6 ὅτι ἔστιν ἡμέρα κλήσεως ἀπολογουμένων ἐν ὄρεσιν Εφραιμ ἀνάστητε καὶ ἀνάβητε εἰς Σιων πρὸς κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν

So those officials took me from my cell and lowered me by ropes into a well in the courtyard. The well belonged to Malkijah, who was a son of the king. There was no water in the well, but there was [a lot of] mud, so I sank [down deep] into the mud.

7 ὅτι οὕτως εἶπεν κύριος τῷ Ιακωβ εὐφράνθητε καὶ χρεμετίσατε ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν ἐθνῶν ἀκουστὰ ποιήσατε καὶ αἰνέσατε εἴπατε ἔσωσεν κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ τὸ κατάλοιπον τοῦ Ισραηλ

But Ebed-Melech, a palace official from Ethiopia, heard [someone say] that I was in the well. [At that time] the king was deciding/judging people’s cases at the Benjamin Gate.

8 ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἄγω αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ βορρᾶ καὶ συνάξω αὐτοὺς ἀπ’ ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς ἐν ἑορτῇ φασεκ καὶ τεκνοποιήσῃ ὄχλον πολύν καὶ ἀποστρέψουσιν ὧδε

Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to the king,

9 ἐν κλαυθμῷ ἐξῆλθον καὶ ἐν παρακλήσει ἀνάξω αὐτοὺς αὐλίζων ἐπὶ διώρυγας ὑδάτων ἐν ὁδῷ ὀρθῇ καὶ οὐ μὴ πλανηθῶσιν ἐν αὐτῇ ὅτι ἐγενόμην τῷ Ισραηλ εἰς πατέρα καὶ Εφραιμ πρωτότοκός μού ἐστιν

“Your majesty, those men have done a very evil thing. They have put the prophet Jeremiah in a well. [Almost] all the food in the city is gone, [so they will not be able to bring him any food] and as a result he will die from hunger!”

10 ἀκούσατε λόγον κυρίου ἔθνη καὶ ἀναγγείλατε εἰς νήσους τὰς μακρότερον εἴπατε ὁ λικμήσας τὸν Ισραηλ συνάξει αὐτὸν καὶ φυλάξει αὐτὸν ὡς ὁ βόσκων τὸ ποίμνιον αὐτοῦ

So the king told Ebed-Melech, “Take thirty of my men/soldiers with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the well, in order that he does not die!”

11 ὅτι ἐλυτρώσατο κύριος τὸν Ιακωβ ἐξείλατο αὐτὸν ἐκ χειρὸς στερεωτέρων αὐτοῦ

So Ebed-Melech took thirty men with him and they went into a room in the palace below the room where they stored very valuable things. There they found some old rags and discarded clothing. They took those things and went to the well. They fastened them to a rope and lowered the rope to me.

12 καὶ ἥξουσιν καὶ εὐφρανθήσονται ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σιων καὶ ἥξουσιν ἐπ’ ἀγαθὰ κυρίου ἐπὶ γῆν σίτου καὶ οἴνου καὶ καρπῶν καὶ κτηνῶν καὶ προβάτων καὶ ἔσται ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτῶν ὥσπερ ξύλον ἔγκαρπον καὶ οὐ πεινάσουσιν ἔτι

Then Ebed-Melech called down to me, “Put these rags underneath your armpits, to protect you from [being injured by] the ropes!” So I did that.

13 τότε χαρήσονται παρθένοι ἐν συναγωγῇ νεανίσκων καὶ πρεσβῦται χαρήσονται καὶ στρέψω τὸ πένθος αὐτῶν εἰς χαρμονὴν καὶ ποιήσω αὐτοὺς εὐφραινομένους

Then they pulled me out of the well. I [returned] to the courtyard where the palace guards stayed, and I stayed there.

14 μεγαλυνῶ καὶ μεθύσω τὴν ψυχὴν τῶν ἱερέων υἱῶν Λευι καὶ ὁ λαός μου τῶν ἀγαθῶν μου ἐμπλησθήσεται

[One day] King Zedekiah summoned me, and I was brought to the king, [who was waiting for me] at the entrance of the temple. He said to me, “I want to ask you something. I want you [to answer me truthfully, and] and to not conceal anything.”

15 οὕτως εἶπεν κύριος φωνὴ ἐν Ραμα ἠκούσθη θρήνου καὶ κλαυθμοῦ καὶ ὀδυρμοῦ Ραχηλ ἀποκλαιομένη οὐκ ἤθελεν παύσασθαι ἐπὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτῆς ὅτι οὐκ εἰσίν

I replied, “If I tell you [the truth], you will [command that I] be executed. And if I give you [good] advice, you will not pay attention to what I say.”

16 οὕτως εἶπεν κύριος διαλιπέτω ἡ φωνή σου ἀπὸ κλαυθμοῦ καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου ἀπὸ δακρύων σου ὅτι ἔστιν μισθὸς τοῖς σοῖς ἔργοις καὶ ἐπιστρέψουσιν ἐκ γῆς ἐχθρῶν

But King Zedekiah secretly promised me, “[Tell me the truth]! And as surely as Yahweh lives, I will not [cause] you to be executed, and I will not hand you over to those who are wanting to kill you.”

17 μόνιμον τοῖς σοῖς τέκνοις

[So] then I said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, you and your family will (be spared/not be killed), and this city will not be burned.

18 ἀκοὴν ἤκουσα Εφραιμ ὀδυρομένου ἐπαίδευσάς με καὶ ἐπαιδεύθην ἐγώ ὥσπερ μόσχος οὐκ ἐδιδάχθην ἐπίστρεψόν με καὶ ἐπιστρέψω ὅτι σὺ κύριος ὁ θεός μου

But if you refuse to surrender to them, you will not escape. And the army from Babylonia will capture this city and completely burn it.’”

19 ὅτι ὕστερον αἰχμαλωσίας μου μετενόησα καὶ ὕστερον τοῦ γνῶναί με ἐστέναξα ἐφ’ ἡμέρας αἰσχύνης καὶ ὑπέδειξά σοι ὅτι ἔλαβον ὀνειδισμὸν ἐκ νεότητός μου

The king replied, “But I am afraid [to surrender to the soldiers from Babylon], because their officers may hand me over to the people of Judah who have already joined the soldiers from Babylonia, and those people from Judah will mistreat me.”

20 υἱὸς ἀγαπητὸς Εφραιμ ἐμοί παιδίον ἐντρυφῶν ὅτι ἀνθ’ ὧν οἱ λόγοι μου ἐν αὐτῷ μνείᾳ μνησθήσομαι αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦτο ἔσπευσα ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ἐλεῶν ἐλεήσω αὐτόν φησὶν κύριος

I replied, “If you obey Yahweh by doing what I tell you to do, they will not hand you over to our people. Things will go well for you, and you will remain alive.

21 στῆσον σεαυτήν Σιων ποίησον τιμωρίαν δὸς καρδίαν σου εἰς τοὺς ὤμους ὁδὸν ἣν ἐπορεύθης ἀποστράφητι παρθένος Ισραηλ ἀποστράφητι εἰς τὰς πόλεις σου πενθοῦσα

But if you refuse to surrender, this is what Yahweh has revealed to me:

22 ἕως πότε ἀποστρέψεις θυγάτηρ ἠτιμωμένη ὅτι ἔκτισεν κύριος σωτηρίαν εἰς καταφύτευσιν καινήν ἐν σωτηρίᾳ περιελεύσονται ἄνθρωποι

All the women who remain in your palace will be brought out and given to the officers of the king of Babylon. Then those women will say to you: ‘You had friends whom [you thought] you could trust, but they have deceived you and caused you to make a wrong decision. Now [it is as though] you are stuck in mud, and your friends have abandoned you.’

23 οὕτως εἶπεν κύριος ἔτι ἐροῦσιν τὸν λόγον τοῦτον ἐν γῇ Ιουδα καὶ ἐν πόλεσιν αὐτοῦ ὅταν ἀποστρέψω τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν αὐτοῦ εὐλογημένος κύριος ἐπὶ δίκαιον ὄρος τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ

All of your wives and children [in the city] will be led out to the soldiers from Babylonia, and you also will not escape. [The soldiers of] the King of Babylon will seize you, and they will burn down this city.”

24 καὶ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν Ιουδα καὶ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ αὐτοῦ ἅμα γεωργῷ καὶ ἀρθήσεται ἐν ποιμνίῳ

Then Zedekiah said to me, “Do not tell anyone what you told me; if you tell anyone, my officials may kill you.

25 ὅτι ἐμέθυσα πᾶσαν ψυχὴν διψῶσαν καὶ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν πεινῶσαν ἐνέπλησα

If my officials find out that I talked to you, perhaps they will come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you and the king were talking about. If you do not tell us, we will kill you.’

26 διὰ τοῦτο ἐξηγέρθην καὶ εἶδον καὶ ὁ ὕπνος μου ἡδύς μοι ἐγενήθη

If that happens, [just] tell them that you pleaded with me not to send you back to the [dungeon/cell in] Jonathan’s house, [because you were afraid that] you would die [if you were put there again].”

27 διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται φησὶν κύριος καὶ σπερῶ τὸν Ισραηλ καὶ τὸν Ιουδαν σπέρμα ἀνθρώπου καὶ σπέρμα κτήνους

And [that is what happened]. The king’s officials came to me and asked [why the king had summoned me. But] I told them what the king told me to tell them. So they did not ask me any more [questions], because no one had heard what the king and I had said to each other.

28 καὶ ἔσται ὥσπερ ἐγρηγόρουν ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς καθαιρεῖν καὶ κακοῦν οὕτως γρηγορήσω ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς τοῦ οἰκοδομεῖν καὶ καταφυτεύειν φησὶν κύριος

So I remained being guarded in the courtyard [of the palace], until the day that [the army of Babylonia] captured Jerusalem.

29 ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις οὐ μὴ εἴπωσιν οἱ πατέρες ἔφαγον ὄμφακα καὶ οἱ ὀδόντες τῶν τέκνων ᾑμωδίασαν

30 ἀλλ’ ἢ ἕκαστος ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἀποθανεῖται καὶ τοῦ φαγόντος τὸν ὄμφακα αἱμωδιάσουσιν οἱ ὀδόντες αὐτοῦ

31 ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται φησὶν κύριος καὶ διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ Ιουδα διαθήκην καινήν

32 οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην ἣν διεθέμην τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπιλαβομένου μου τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐνέμειναν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου καὶ ἐγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν φησὶν κύριος

33 ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας φησὶν κύριος διδοὺς δώσω νόμους μου εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν γράψω αὐτούς καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς θεόν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν

34 καὶ οὐ μὴ διδάξωσιν ἕκαστος τὸν πολίτην αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕκαστος τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ λέγων γνῶθι τὸν κύριον ὅτι πάντες εἰδήσουσίν με ἀπὸ μικροῦ αὐτῶν καὶ ἕως μεγάλου αὐτῶν ὅτι ἵλεως ἔσομαι ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ ἔτι

35 ἐὰν ὑψωθῇ ὁ οὐρανὸς εἰς τὸ μετέωρον φησὶν κύριος καὶ ἐὰν ταπεινωθῇ τὸ ἔδαφος τῆς γῆς κάτω καὶ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀποδοκιμῶ τὸ γένος Ισραηλ φησὶν κύριος περὶ πάντων ὧν ἐποίησαν

36 οὕτως εἶπεν κύριος ὁ δοὺς τὸν ἥλιον εἰς φῶς τῆς ἡμέρας σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας εἰς φῶς τῆς νυκτός καὶ κραυγὴν ἐν θαλάσσῃ καὶ ἐβόμβησεν τὰ κύματα αὐτῆς κύριος παντοκράτωρ ὄνομα αὐτῷ

37 ἐὰν παύσωνται οἱ νόμοι οὗτοι ἀπὸ προσώπου μου φησὶν κύριος καὶ τὸ γένος Ισραηλ παύσεται γενέσθαι ἔθνος κατὰ πρόσωπόν μου πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας

38 ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται φησὶν κύριος καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσεται πόλις τῷ κυρίῳ ἀπὸ πύργου Αναμεηλ ἕως πύλης τῆς γωνίας

39 καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ἡ διαμέτρησις αὐτῆς ἀπέναντι αὐτῶν ἕως βουνῶν Γαρηβ καὶ περικυκλωθήσεται κύκλῳ ἐξ ἐκλεκτῶν λίθων

40 καὶ πάντες ασαρημωθ ἕως ναχαλ Κεδρων ἕως γωνίας πύλης ἵππων ἀνατολῆς ἁγίασμα τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ οὐκέτι οὐ μὴ ἐκλίπῃ καὶ οὐ μὴ καθαιρεθῇ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος