Jeremiæ 38

1 audivit autem Saphatias filius Matthan et Gedelias filius Phassur et Iuchal filius Selemiae et Phassur filius Melchiae sermones quos Hieremias loquebatur ad omnem populum dicens

[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 haec dicit Dominus quicumque manserit in civitate hac morietur gladio et fame et peste qui autem profugerit ad Chaldeos vivet et erit anima eius sospes et vivens

[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 haec dicit Dominus tradenda tradetur civitas haec in manu exercitus regis Babylonis et capiet eam

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

4 et dixerunt principes regi rogamus ut occidatur homo iste de industria enim dissolvit manus virorum bellantium qui remanserunt in civitate hac et manus universi populi loquens ad eos iuxta verba haec siquidem homo hic non quaerit pacem populi huius sed malum

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 et dixit rex Sedecias ecce ipse in manibus vestris est nec enim fas est regem vobis quicquam negare

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

6 tulerunt ergo Hieremiam et proiecerunt eum in lacu Melchiae filii Ammelech qui erat in vestibulo carceris et submiserunt Hieremiam in funibus et in lacum non erat aqua sed lutum descendit itaque Hieremias in caenum

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 audivit autem Abdemelech Aethiops vir eunuchus qui erat in domo regis quod misissent Hieremiam in lacum porro rex sedebat in porta Beniamin

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 et egressus est Abdemelech de domo regis et locutus est ad regem dicens

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

9 domine mi rex malefecerunt viri isti omnia quaecumque perpetrarunt contra Hieremiam prophetam mittentes eum in lacum ut moriatur ibi fame non sunt enim panes ultra in civitate

“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 praecepit itaque rex Abdemelech Aethiopi dicens tolle tecum hinc triginta viros et leva Hieremiam prophetam de lacu antequam moriatur

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 adsumptis ergo Abdemelech secum viris ingressus est domum regis quae erat sub cellario et tulit inde veteres pannos et antiqua quae conputruerant et submisit ea ad Hieremiam in lacum per funiculos

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 dixitque Abdemelech Aethiops ad Hieremiam pone veteres pannos et haec scissa et putrida sub cubitu manuum tuarum et subter funes fecit ergo Hieremias sic

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 et extraxerunt Hieremiam funibus et eduxerunt eum de lacu mansit autem Hieremias in vestibulo carceris

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

14 et misit rex Sedecias et tulit ad se Hieremiam prophetam ad ostium tertium quod erat in domo Domini et dixit rex ad Hieremiam interrogo ego te sermonem ne abscondas a me aliquid

[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 dixit autem Hieremias ad Sedeciam si adnuntiavero tibi numquid non interficies me et si consilium tibi dedero non me audies

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 iuravit ergo rex Sedecias Hieremiae clam dicens vivit Dominus qui fecit nobis animam hanc si occidero te et si tradidero te in manu virorum istorum qui quaerunt animam tuam

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 et dixit Hieremias ad Sedeciam haec dicit Dominus exercituum Deus Israhel si profectus exieris ad principes regis Babylonis vivet anima tua et civitas haec non succendetur igni et salvus eris tu et domus tua

[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 si autem non exieris ad principes regis Babylonis tradetur civitas haec in manu Chaldeorum et succendent eam igni et tu non effugies de manu eorum

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 et dixit rex Sedecias ad Hieremiam sollicitus sum propter Iudaeos qui transfugerunt ad Chaldeos ne forte tradar in manus eorum et inludant mihi

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 respondit autem Hieremias non te tradent audi quaeso vocem Domini quam ego loquor ad te et bene tibi erit et vivet anima tua

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 quod si nolueris egredi iste est sermo quem ostendit mihi Dominus

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

22 ecce omnes mulieres quae remanserunt in domo regis Iuda educentur ad principes regis Babylonis et ipsae dicent seduxerunt te et praevaluerunt adversum te viri pacifici tui demerserunt in caeno et lubrico pedes tuos et recesserunt a te

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 et omnes uxores tuae et filii tui educentur ad Chaldeos et non effugies manus eorum sed in manu regis Babylonis capieris et civitatem hanc conburet igni

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 dixit ergo Sedecias ad Hieremiam nullus sciat verba haec et non morieris

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

25 si autem audierint principes quia locutus sum tecum et venerint ad te et dixerint tibi indica nobis quid locutus sis cum rege ne celes nos et non te interficiemus et quid locutus est tecum rex

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 dices ad eos prostravi ego preces meas coram rege ne me reduci iuberet in domum Ionathan et ibi morerer

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 venerunt ergo omnes principes ad Hieremiam et interrogaverunt eum et locutus est eis iuxta omnia verba quae praeceperat ei rex et cessaverunt ab eo nihil enim fuerat auditum

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 mansit vero Hieremias in vestibulo carceris usque ad diem quo capta est Hierusalem et factum est ut caperetur Hierusalem

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