Ermiyaas 38
1 Shefaaxiyaa ilmi Mataan, Gedaaliyaas ilmi Phaashihuur, Yuukaal ilmi Shelemiyaatii fi Phaashihuur ilmi Malkiyaa waan Ermiyaas akkana jedhee saba hundatti hime dhagaʼan;
[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 “Waaqayyo akkana jedha: ‘Namni magaalaa kana keessatti hafu kam iyyuu goraadeen, beelaan yookaan dhaʼichaan ni duʼa; namni gara Baabilonotaatti baqatu kam iyyuu garuu ni jiraata. Inni lubbuu isaatiin ni baʼa; ni jiraatas.’
[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 Waaqayyo akkana jedha: ‘Magaalaan kun dhugumaan dabarfamtee harka waraana mootii Baabilonitti ni kennamti; innis ishee qabata.’”
Yahweh also says that the army of the King of Babylon will certainly capture this city [DOU].”
4 Kana irratti qondaaltonni sun mootichaan akkana jedhan; “Namichi kun ajjeefamuu qaba. Inni waan isaanitti dubbatuun loltoota magaalaa kana keessatti hafanii fi namoota hunda onnee dhabsiisa. Namichi kun saba kanaaf badiisa malee waan gaarii hin hawwu.”
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 Zedeqiyaa Mootichi immoo, “Inni harkuma keessan keessa jira; mootiin isiniin mormee homaa gochuu hin dandaʼu” jedhee deebise.
King Zedekiah said, “All right, do to him what you want to; I do not have the power to stop you.”
6 Kanaafuu isaan Ermiyaasin fuudhanii boolla bishaanii kan Malkiyaa ilma mootichaa keessa buusan; boolli bishaanii sunis oobdii eegumsaa keessa ture. Isaan funyoodhaan Ermiyaasin boolla sana keessa buusan; boolli sun dhoqqee malee bishaan hin qabu ture; Ermiyaasis dhoqqee keessa dhidhime.
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 Garuu Ebeed-Melek qondaalli Itoophiyaa kan masaraa mootii keessa ture sun akka isaan Ermiyaasin boolla bishaanii keessa buusan dhagaʼe. Utuma mootichi Karra Beniyaam bira taaʼee jiruus,
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 Ebeed-Melek masaraadhaa baʼee dhaqee akkana isaan jedhe;
Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to the king,
9 “Yaa gooftaa koo mooticha, jarri kun waan Ermiyaas raajicha godhan hundaan waan hamaa hojjetaniiru. Isaan akka inni beelaan duʼuuf yeroo buddeenni tokko iyyuu magaalaa keessa hin jirretti boolla bishaanii keessa isa buusan.”
“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 Mootichis ergasii Ebeed-Melek namicha Itoophiyaa sanaan, “Nama soddoma asii fudhadhuu dhaqiitii utuu inni hin duʼin Ermiyaas raajicha boolla bishaanii keessaa baasi” jedhee ajaje.
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 Kanaafuu Ebeed-Melek namoota sana fudhatee gara kutaa mankuusaa masaraa mootichaa keessaatiin jala jiru sanaa dhaqe. Innis darsaa fi wayyaa moofaa achii fudhatee funyoon gara boolla bishaaniitti Ermiyaasiif gad buuse.
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 Ebeed-Melek namichi Itoophiyaa sunis Ermiyaasiin, “Akka funyoon si hin luqqisneef darsaa fi wayyaa moofaa bobaa kee jala kaaʼadhu” jedhe. Ermiyaasis akkasuma godhe;
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 isaanis funyoo sanaan ol harkisanii boolla bishaanii keessaa isa baasan. Ermiyaasis oobdii eegumsaa keessa ture.
Then they pulled me out of the well. I [returned] to the courtyard where the palace guards stayed, and I stayed there.
14 Zedeqiyaa Mootichi Ermiyaasitti nama ergee gara balbala sadaffaa mana qulqullummaa Waaqayyootti isa fichisiise. Mootichis Ermiyaasiin, “Ani waa sin gaafadha; ati waan tokko illee na hin dhoksin” jedhe.
[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 Ermiyaasis Zedeqiyaadhaan, “Yoo ani deebii siif kenne, ati na hin ajjeeftuu? Yoo ani si gorse iyyuu ati na hin dhageessu” jedhe.
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 Zedeqiyaa Mootichi garuu, “Dhugaa Waaqayyo jiraataa isa jireenya nuu kenne sanaa ani si hin ajjeesu; warra lubbuu kee balleessuu barbaadanittis dabarsee si hin kennu” jedhee kakuu kana dhoksaatti Ermiyaasiif kakate.
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 Kana irratti Ermiyaas deebisee Zedeqiyaadhaan akkana jedhe; “Waaqayyo Waaqni, inni Waan Hunda Dandaʼu, Waaqni Israaʼel akkana jedha: ‘Yoo ati qondaaltota mootii Baabilonitti harka kennatte lubbuun kee duʼa ni oolfamti; magaalaan kunis hin gubamtu; atii fi maatiin kee ni jiraattu.
[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 Garuu yoo ati qondaaltota mootii Baabilonitti harka kennachuu baatte magaalaan kun dabarfamtee Baabilonotatti ni kennamti; isaanis ishee gubu; ati mataan kee iyyuu isaan jalaa hin baatu.’”
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 Zedeqiyaa Mootichi Ermiyaasiin, “Ani Yihuudoota Baabilonotatti galan nan sodaadha; Baabilononni dabarsanii isaanitti na kennanii isaan immoo natti taphatuutii” jedhe.
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 Ermiyaasis akkana jedhee deebise; “Isaan dabarsanii si hin kennan; ati waan ani sitti himu gochuudhaan Waaqayyoof ajajami. Yoos ati milkooftee lubbuun kees duʼa oolfamti.
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 Garuu yoo ati harka kennachuu didde, Waaqayyo waan kana naa ibseera:
But if you refuse to surrender, this is what Yahweh has revealed to me:
22 Dubartoonni mana mootii Yihuudaa keessatti hafan hundi gara qondaaltota mootii Baabilonitti geeffamu. Dubartoonni sunis akkana jedhu: “‘Michoonni kee kanneen ati amanatte sun, si gowwoomsanii; si moʼatan. Miilli kee dhoqqee keessa lixe; michoonni kees si dhiisanii deeman.’
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 “Niitonni keetii fi ijoolleen kee hundi Baabilonotatti geeffamu. Ati mataan kee iyyuu mootii Baabiloniin qabamta malee isaan harkaa hin baatu; magaalaan kunis ni gubamti.”
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 Zedeqiyaan Ermiyaasiin akkana jedhe; “Dubbii nu amma dubbanne kana namni tokko iyyuu hin beekin; yoo kanaa achii ati ni duutaa.
Then Zedekiah said to me, “Do not tell anyone what you told me; if you tell anyone, my officials may kill you.
25 Yoo qondaaltonni akka ani si wajjin haasaʼe dhagaʼanii si bira dhufanii, ‘Waan ati mootiidhaan jettee fi waan mootiin siin jedhe nutti himi; nu hin dhoksin; yoo kanaa achii nu si ajjeefnaa’ siin jedhan,
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 ‘Ani akka inni gara mana Yoonaataanitti deebisee na ergee anis achitti hin duuneef mooticha kadhachaa ture’ jedhiin.”
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 Ergasii qondaaltonni hundi dhufanii Ermiyaasin gaafatan; innis waan mootichi akka inni dubbatu isa ajaje hunda isaanitti hime. Sababii namni waan inni mooticha wajjin dubbate dhagaʼe tokko iyyuu hin turiniif, jarri waan kana caalaa homaa isatti hin dubbanne.
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 Ermiyaasis hamma gaafa Yerusaalem qabamteetti oobdii eegumsaa sana keessa ture.
So I remained being guarded in the courtyard [of the palace], until the day that [the army of Babylonia] captured Jerusalem.
