Jeremiæ 34

1 Verbum, quod factum est ad Ieremiam a Domino, quando Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis, et omnis exercitus eius, universaque regna terrae, quae erant sub potestate manus eius, et omnes populi bellabant contra Ierusalem, et contra omnes urbes eius, dicens:

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, all his army, all the earthly kingdoms under his control, and all the other nations were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding cities.

2 Haec dicit Dominus Deus Israel: Vade, et loquere ad Sedechiam regem Iuda: et dices ad eum: Haec dicit Dominus: Ecce ego tradam civitatem hanc in manus regis Babylonis, et succendet eam igne.

The LORD, the God of Israel, told Jeremiah to go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.

3 Et tu non effugies de manu eius: sed comprehensione capieris, et in manu eius traderis: et oculi tui oculos regis Babylonis videbunt, et os eius cum ore tuo loquetur, et Babylonem introibis.

And you yourself will not escape his grasp, but will surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You will see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face; and you will go to Babylon.

4 Attamen audi verbum Domini Sedecia rex Iuda: Haec dicit Dominus ad te: Non morieris in gladio,

Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword;

5 sed in pace morieris, et secundum combustiones patrum tuorum regum priorum qui fuerunt ante te, sic comburent te: et vae domine, plangent te: quia verbum ego locutus sum, dicit Dominus.

you will die in peace. As spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so people will burn spices for you and lament, ‘Alas, O master!’ For I Myself have spoken this word, declares the LORD.”

6 Et locutus est Ieremias propheta ad Sedechiam regem Iuda universa verba haec in Ierusalem.

In Jerusalem, then, Jeremiah the prophet relayed all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah

7 Et exercitus regis Babylonis pugnabat contra Ierusalem, et contra omnes civitates Iuda, quae reliquae erant contra Lachis, et contra Azecha: hae enim supererant de civitatibus Iuda, urbes munitae.

as the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the remaining cities of Judah—against Lachish and Azekah. For these were the only fortified cities remaining in Judah.

8 Verbum, quod factum est ad Ieremiam a Domino, postquam percussit rex Sedechias foedus cum omni populo in Ierusalem, praedicans:

After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD

9 Ut dimitteret unusquisque servum suum, et unusquisque ancillam suam, Hebraeum et Hebraeam liberos: et nequaquam dominarentur eis, id est in Iudaeo et fratre suo.

that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage.

10 Audierunt ergo omnes principes et universus populus, qui inierant pactum ut dimitteret unusquisque servum suum, et unusquisque ancillam suam liberos, et ultra non dominarentur eis: audierunt igitur, et dimiserunt.

So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their menservants and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage. They obeyed and released them,

11 Et conversi sunt deinceps: et retraxerunt servos et ancillas suas, quos dimiserant liberos, et subiugaverunt in famulos et famulas.

but later they changed their minds and took back the menservants and maidservants they had freed, and they forced them to become slaves again.

12 Et factum est verbum Domini ad Ieremiam a Domino, dicens:

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

13 Haec dicit Dominus Deus Israel: Ego percussi foedus cum patribus vestris in die, qua eduxi eos de Terra Aegypti de domo servitutis, dicens:

“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying:

14 Cum completi fuerint septem anni, dimittat unusquisque fratrem suum Hebraeum, qui venditus est ei, et serviet tibi sex annis: et dimittes eum a te liberum: et non audierunt patres vestri me, nec inclinaverunt aurem suam.

Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.

15 Et conversi estis vos hodie, et fecistis quod rectum est in oculis meis, ut praedicaretis libertatem unusquisque ad amicum suum: et inistis pactum in conspectu meo in domo, in qua invocatum est nomen meum super eam.

Recently you repented and did what pleased Me; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name.

16 Et reversi estis, et commaculastis nomen meum: et reduxistis unusquisque servum suum, et unusquisque ancillam suam, quos dimiseratis ut essent liberi et suae potestatis: et subiugastis eos ut sint vobis servi et ancillae.

But now you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each of you has taken back the menservants and maidservants whom you had set at liberty to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.

17 Propterea haec dicit Dominus: Vos non audistis me, ut praedicaretis libertatem unusquisque fratri suo, et unusquisque amico suo: ecce ego praedico vobis libertatem, ait Dominus ad gladium, ad pestem, et ad famem: et dabo vos in commotionem cunctis regnis terrae.

Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares the LORD—freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine! I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

18 Et dabo viros, qui praevaricantur foedus meum, et non observaverunt verba foederis, quibus assensi sunt in conspectu meo, vitulum quem conciderunt in duas partes, et transierunt inter divisiones eius:

And those who have transgressed My covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces.

19 Principes Iuda et principes Ierusalem, eunuchi et sacerdotes, et omnis populus terrae, qui transierunt inter divisiones vituli:

The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf,

20 Et dabo eos in manus inimicorum suorum, et in manus quaerentium animam eorum: et erit morticinum eorum in escam volatilibus caeli, et bestiis terrae.

I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.

21 Et Sedechiam regem Iuda, et principes eius dabo in manus inimicorum suorum, et in manus quaerentium animas eorum, et in manus exercituum regis Babylonis, qui recesserunt a vobis.

And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you.

22 Ecce ego praecipio, dicit Dominus, et reducam eos in civitatem hanc, et praeliabuntur adversus eam, et capient eam, et incendent igne: et civitates Iuda dabo in solitudinem, eo quod non sit habitator.

Behold, I am going to give the command, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”