Yeremia 38
1 TUHAN menyuruh aku menyampaikan pesan ini kepada rakyat, "Kota ini akan Kuberikan kepada tentara Babel, dan mereka akan mengalahkannya. Barangsiapa tinggal di dalam kota akan tewas dalam peperangan, atau karena kelaparan atau wabah penyakit. Tapi barangsiapa keluar dan menyerahkan diri kepada orang Babel, tidak akan dibunuh; nyawanya akan selamat." Sefaca anak Matan, Gedalya anak Pasyhur, Yukhal anak Selemya, dan Pasyhur anak Malkia mendengar semua yang Kukatakan itu.
At that time, says the Lord, I will be a God to the family of Israel, and they shall be to me a people.
Thus says the Lord, I found him warm in the wilderness with them that were slain with the sword: go you and destroy not Israel.
The Lord appeared to him from afar, [saying], I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore have I drawn you in compassion.
4 Maka pergilah para pejabat itu kepada raja dan berkata, "Orang ini harus dihukum mati. Sebab, dengan berkata begitu ia melemahkan semangat semua prajurit dan orang lain yang masih tinggal di kota ini. Ia tidak menolong rakyat, melainkan mencelakakan mereka."
For I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: you shall yet take your timbrel, and go forth with the party of them that make merry.
5 Raja Zedekia menjawab, "Baik! Perlakukanlah dia sesuai dengan kehendakmu, aku tidak dapat mencegah kamu."
For you have planted vineyards on the mountains of Samaria: plant you, and praise.
6 Lalu mereka mengambil aku dan menurunkan aku dengan tali ke dalam sumur milik Malkia putra raja, yang terletak di pelataran istana. Tidak ada air di dalam sumur itu, hanya lumpur, dan aku masuk ke dalam lumpur itu.
For it is a day when those that plead on the mountains of Ephraim shall call, [saying], Arise you, and go up to Sion to the Lord your God.
7 Pada waktu itu ada seorang Sudan yang bekerja di istana raja. Namanya Ebed-Melekh. Ia mendengar bahwa aku telah dimasukkan ke dalam sumur itu. Ketika raja sedang memimpin rapat di Pintu Gerbang Benyamin,
For thus says the Lord to Jacob; Rejoice you, and exult over the head of the nations: make proclamation, and praise you: say, The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel.
8 Ebed-Melekh pergi ke sana dan berkata kepada raja,
Behold, I bring them from the north, and will gather them from the end of the earth to the feast of the passover: and [the people] shall beget a great multitude, and they shall return hither.
9 "Paduka Yang Mulia, perbuatan orang-orang itu tidak baik. Mereka telah memasukkan Nabi Yeremia ke dalam sumur; ia pasti akan mati kelaparan di situ, sebab makanan sudah habis di kota ini."
They went forth with weeping, and I will bring them back with consolation, causing them to lodge by the channels of waters in a straight way, and they shall not err in it: for I am become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Lalu raja memerintahkan Ebed-Melekh, "Bawalah tiga orang dan keluarkanlah Yeremia dari sumur itu sebelum ia mati."
Hear the words of the Lord, you nations, and proclaim [them] to the islands afar off; say, He that scattered Israel will also gather him, and keep him as one that feeds his flock.
11 Maka pergilah Ebed-Melekh dengan ketiga orang itu ke gudang istana, dan mengambil kain-kain tua dari situ, lalu menurunkannya dengan tali kepadaku di dalam sumur.
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them [that were] stronger than he.
12 Ebed-Melekh menyuruh aku menaruh kain-kain itu di bawah ketiakku sebagai ganjalan, supaya tali itu tidak menyakiti aku. Maka aku menuruti perintah Ebed-Melekh.
And they shall come, and shall rejoice in the mount of Sion, and shall come to the good things of the Lord, [even] to a land of corn, and wine, and fruits, and cattle, and sheep: and their soul shall be as a fruitful tree; and they shall hunger no more.
13 Lalu mereka menarik aku ke atas, keluar dari sumur itu. Setelah itu aku ditahan di pelataran istana itu.
Then shall the virgins rejoice in the assembly of youth, and the old men shall rejoice; and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will make them merry.
14 Pada suatu waktu yang lain, Raja Zedekia menyuruh orang membawa aku menghadap dia di pintu gerbang yang ketiga pada Rumah TUHAN. Ia berkata kepadaku, "Aku mau bertanya kepadamu, dan kau harus menjawab dengan terus terang. Jangan sembunyikan apa-apa."
I will expand and cheer with wine the soul of the priests the sons of Levi, and my people shall be satisfied with my good things: thus says the Lord.
15 Aku menjawab, "Kalau aku mengatakan yang benar, pasti Baginda akan menjatuhkan hukuman mati kepadaku; dan kalau aku memberi nasihat, Baginda tidak akan mau menuruti nasihat itu."
A voice was heard in Rama, of lamentation, and of weeping, and wailing; Rachel would not cease weeping for her children, because they are not.
16 Raja Zedekia dengan diam-diam berjanji kepadaku, katanya, "Demi Allah yang hidup, Allah yang memberi hidup kepada kita, aku bersumpah bahwa aku tidak akan membunuh engkau atau menyerahkan engkau kepada orang-orang yang mau membunuhmu."
Thus says the Lord; Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from your tears: for their is a reward for your works; and they shall return from the land of [your] enemies.
17 Lalu aku mengatakan kepada Zedekia bahwa TUHAN Yang Mahakuasa, Allah yang disembah oleh orang Israel, berkata begini, "Jika engkau menyerah kepada pejabat-pejabat raja Babel, engkau tidak akan dibunuh, dan kota ini pun tidak akan dibakar. Engkau dan keluargamu akan selamat.
[There shall be] an dwelling [home] for your children.
18 Tapi kalau engkau tidak mau menyerah, kota ini akan jatuh ke dalam tangan orang Babel. Mereka akan membakarnya sampai habis, dan engkau tidak akan luput."
I have heard the sound of Ephraim lamenting, [and saying], You have chastened me, and I was chastened; I as a calf was not [willingly] taught: turn you me, and I shall turn; for you [are] the Lord my God.
19 Raja menjawab, "Aku takut kepada orang-orang bangsa kita yang sudah lari ke pihak orang Babel. Jangan-jangan aku akan diserahkan kepada mereka dan disiksa."
For after my captivity I repented; and after I knew, I groaned for the day of shame, and showed you that I bore reproach from my youth.
20 "Tidak," jawabku, "Baginda tidak akan diserahkan kepada mereka. Aku mohon dengan sangat supaya Baginda menuruti pesan TUHAN; nanti semuanya akan beres, dan Baginda tidak akan dibunuh.
Ephraim is a beloved son, a pleasing child to me: for because my words are in him, I will surely remember him: therefore I made haste [to help] him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord.
21 Tapi apabila Baginda tidak mau menyerahkan diri, TUHAN sudah memperlihatkan kepadaku apa yang akan terjadi.
Prepare yourself, O Sion; execute vengeance; look to your ways: return, O virgin of Israel, by the way by which you went, return mourning to your cities.
22 Dalam penglihatan itu aku melihat semua wanita yang masih ada di istana Yehuda digiring keluar kepada pejabat-pejabat raja Babel. Sambil berjalan, mereka berkata, 'Raja telah diperdaya oleh sahabat-sahabat karibnya, dan dikuasai oleh mereka. Kini, setelah kakinya terperosok ke dalam lumpur, mereka semua undur.'"
How long, O disgraced daughter, will you turn away? for the Lord has created safety for a new plantation: men shall go about in safety.
23 Aku berkata lagi, "Semua anak istri Baginda akan dibawa keluar kepada orang Babel. Baginda sendiri pun tidak akan luput dari mereka. Baginda akan ditangkap oleh raja Babel, dan kota ini dibakar habis."
For thus says the Lord; They shall yet speak this word in the land of Juda, and in the cities thereof, when I shall turn his captivity; blessed be the Lord on his righteous holy mountain!
24 Lalu Zedekia berkata, "Jangan beritahukan kepada siapa pun tentang percakapan kita ini, supaya nyawamu tidak terancam.
And there shall be dwellers in the cities of Juda, and in all his land, together with the husbandman, and [the shepherd] shall go forth with the flock.
25 Apabila para pejabat mendengar bahwa aku telah berbicara dengan engkau, mereka akan datang dan bertanya kepadamu tentang pembicaraan kita. Mereka akan berjanji untuk tidak membunuh engkau, kalau engkau menceritakan semuanya kepada mereka.
For I have saturated every thirsting soul, and filled every hungry soul.
26 Katakan saja bahwa engkau membujuk aku supaya aku tidak mengirim engkau kembali ke penjara dan mati di sana."
Therefore I awake, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.
27 Tak lama kemudian semua pejabat itu datang dan bertanya-tanya kepadaku. Aku memberitahukan kepada mereka tepat seperti yang diperintahkan raja kepadaku. Dengan demikian mereka tak dapat berbuat apa-apa sebab tak ada seorang pun yang mengetahui pembicaraan raja dengan aku.
Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Juda with the seed of man, and the seed of beast.
28 Aku tetap ditahan di pelataran istana sampai pada hari Yerusalem direbut musuh.
And it shall come to pass, that as I watched over them, to pull down, and to afflict, so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the Lord.
In those days they shall certainly not say, The fathers ate a sour grape, and the children's teeth were set on edge.
But every one shall die in his own sin; and the teeth of him that eats the sour grape shall be set on edge.
Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda:
not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they abode not in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.
For this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, says the Lord, I will surely put my laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
And they shall not at all teach every one his [fellow] citizen, and every one his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them: for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more.
Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, the moon and the stars for a light by night, and [makes] a roaring in the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; the Lord Almighty is his name:
if these ordinances cease from before me, says the Lord, then shall the family of Israel cease to be a nation before me forever.
Though the sky should be raised to a [greater] height, says the Lord, and though the ground of the earth should be sunk [lower] beneath, yet I will not cast off the family of Israel, says the Lord, for all that they have done.
Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Anameel to the gate of the corner.
And the measurement of it shall proceed in front of them as far as the hills of Gareb, and it shall be compassed with a circular wall of choice stones.
And all the Asaremoth even to Nachal Kedron, as far as the corner of the horse-gate eastward, shall be holiness to the Lord; and it shall not fail any more, and shall not be destroyed for ever.
