Jeremías 38
1 Sefatías hijo de Matán, Gedalías hijo de Pasur, Jucal hijo de Selemías, y Pasur hijo de Malquías oyeron lo que Jeremías decía a todos:
At that time, says the Lord, I will be a God to the family of Israel, and they shall be to me a people.
2 Esto es lo que dice el Señor: El que se quede en esta ciudad morirá de guerra, de hambre y de enfermedad, pero el que se pase a los babilonios vivirá. Su recompensa será salvar su vida.
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.
3 Esto es lo que dice el Señor: Estén seguros de esto: Jerusalén será entregada al ejército del rey de Babilonia. Él va a capturarla.
The Lord appeared to him from afar, [saying], I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore have I drawn you in compassion.
4 Los oficiales le dijeron al rey: “Este hombre merece morir porque está desmoralizando a los defensores que quedan en la ciudad, y también a todo el pueblo, al decirles esto. Este hombre no trata de ayudar a esta gente, sólo va a destruirla”.
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 “Bueno, puedes hacer lo que quieras con él”, respondió el rey Sedequías. “No puedo detenerte”.
For you have planted vineyards on the mountains of Samaria: plant you, and praise.
6 Así que tomaron a Jeremías y lo pusieron en la cisterna que pertenecía a Malquías, el hijo del rey, que estaba en el patio de la guardia. Bajaron a Jeremías con cuerdas a la cisterna. No tenía agua, sólo barro, y Jeremías se hundió en el barro.
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 Ebed-melec el cusita, un funcionario real del palacio del rey, descubrió que habían metido a Jeremías en la cisterna. El rey estaba sentado en la puerta de Benjamín,
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 Entonces Ebed-melec salió del palacio y fue a hablar con el rey
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 “Mi señor el rey, todas estas cosas terribles que estos hombres le han hecho al profeta Jeremías son malas. Lo han metido en la cisterna, y allí morirá de hambre porque ya no queda pan en la ciudad”.
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 Entonces el rey dio la orden a Ebed-melec el cusita: “Toma treinta hombres contigo y ve a sacar al profeta Jeremías de la cisterna antes de que muera”.
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 Ebed-melec tomó a los hombres y se dirigió al almacén bajo el palacio. Tomó de allí algunos trapos y ropas viejas y se dirigió a la cisterna donde los bajó con cuerdas a Jeremías.
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them [that were] stronger than he.
12 Ebed-melec, el cusita, llamó a Jeremías: “Ponte estos trapos y ropas viejas bajo los brazos para protegerte de las cuerdas”. Jeremías así lo hizo,
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 y con las cuerdas lo levantaron y lo sacaron de la cisterna. Jeremías se quedó allí en el patio de la guardia.
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 Entonces el rey Sedequías mandó llamar al profeta Jeremías y se reunió con él en la tercera entrada del Templo. “Necesito pedirte algo”, le dijo el rey a Jeremías. “No debes ocultarme nada”.
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 “Si te lo digo, seguro que haces que me maten”, respondió Jeremías. “Aunque te diera un consejo, de todos modos no me escucharías”.
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 El rey Sedequías le prometió solemnemente a Jeremías en privado: “Vive el Señor, que nos dio esta vida, que no te haré matar, ni te entregaré a los que quieren matarte”.
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 Entonces Jeremías le dijo a Sedequías: “Esto es lo que dice el Señor Dios Todopoderoso, el Dios de Israel: ‘Si te entregas a los oficiales del rey de Babilonia, entonces vivirás. Jerusalén no será incendiada, y tú y tu familia sobrevivirán.
[There shall be] an dwelling [home] for your children.
18 Pero si no te entregas a los oficiales del rey de Babilonia, esta ciudad será entregada a los babilonios. Ellos la incendiarán, y tú mismo no escaparás de ser capturado’”.
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 Pero el rey Sedequías le dijo a Jeremías: “Tengo miedo de la gente de Judá que se ha pasado a los babilonios, porque los babilonios podrían entregarme a ellos para que abusen de mí”.
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 “No te entregarán”, respondió Jeremías. “Si obedeces lo que dice el Señor haciendo lo que te digo, las cosas te irán bien y vivirás.
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 Pero si te niegas a entregarte, esto es lo que me ha dicho el Señor:
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 Todas las mujeres que queden en el palacio del rey de Judá serán sacadas y entregadas a los funcionarios del rey de Babilonia Esas mujeres dirán: ‘¡Esos buenos amigos tuyos! Te han acogido y te han conquistado. Tus pies se atascaron en el medio, por lo que te abandonaron’.
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 Todas tus esposas e hijos serán entregados a los caldeos. Y tú mismo no escaparás, pues serás capturado por el rey de Babilonia, y Jerusalén será incendiada”.
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 Sedequías advirtió a Jeremías: “Nadie puede enterarse de esta conversación, pues de lo contrario morirás.
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 Si los oficiales se enteran de que he hablado contigo, y vienen a preguntarte: ‘¡Dinos de qué hablaron tú y el rey! No nos ocultes nada, o te mataremos;’
For I have saturated every thirsting soul, and filled every hungry soul.
26 entonces les dirás: ‘Le estaba pidiendo al rey que me concediera mi petición de no devolverme a la casa de Jonatán para morir allí’”.
Therefore I awake, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.
27 Cuando todos los oficiales vinieron a Jeremías queriendo saber, él les repitió exactamente lo que el rey le había dicho que dijera. Entonces no le preguntaron nada más, porque nadie había oído lo que se había dicho.
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 Jeremías permaneció allí, en el patio de la guardia, hasta el día en que Jerusalén fue capturada.
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.
