Yeremia 38
1 Shefatia mwana wa Matani, Gedalia mwana wa Pashuri, na Pashuri mwana wa Malkiya alisikia maneno ambayo Yeremia alikuwa akitanganza kwa wato wote. Alikuwa akisema,
[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 “Yahwe asema hivi: Yeyote anayeishi kwenye mji huu atauwawa kwa upanga, njaa, na pigo. Lakini yeyote ambaye aendae kwa Wakaldayo ataishi. Atatoroka pamoja na maisha yake mwenyewe, na kuishi.
[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 Yahwe asema hivi: Huu mji huu utapewa kwa mkono wa jeshi la mfalme wa Babeli, na ataukamata.”
Yahweh also says that the army of the King of Babylon will certainly capture this city [DOU].”
4 Kwa hiyo maafisa walisema kwa mfalme, “Acha mtu huu afe, kwa kuwa kwa njia hii anadhofisha mikono ya wanaume wapiganaji waliobaki kwenye mji huu, na mikono ya watu wote. Anatanganza maneno haya, kwa kuwa huyu mtu hafanyi kwa usalama wa watu hawa, lakini kwa majanga.”
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 Basi mfalme Sedekia alisema, “Tazama, yuko mkononi mwako kwa kuwa hakuna mfalme awezae kumpinga.”
King Zedekiah said, “All right, do to him what you want to; I do not have the power to stop you.”
6 Kisha walimchukua Yeremia na kumtupa kwenye kisima cha Malkiya, mwana wa mfalme. Kisima kilikuwa kwenye uwanja wa mlinzi. Walimshusha Yeremia chini kwa kamba. Hapakuwa na maji kwenye kisima, lakini kulikuwa na matope, na alizama chini ya matope.
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 Sasa Ebed Meleki Mkushi alikuwa mmoja wa watowashi katika nyumba ya mfalme. Alisikia kwamba walikuwa wamemuweka Yeremia kwenye kisima. Sasa mfalme alikuwa ameketi kwa mlango wa Benjamini.
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 Basi Ebed Meleki alienda toka nyumba ya mfalme na kuzungumza na mfalme.
Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to the king,
9 Alisema, “Bwana wangu mfalme, hawa wanaume wamefanya uovu kwa namna walivyomtendea Yeremia nabii. Walimtupa kwenye kisima kwa ajili ya kufa kutokana na njaa, tangu hakuna chakula zaidi katika mji.”
“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 Kisha mfalme alitoa amri kwa Ebed Meleki Mkushi. Alisema, “Chukua amri ya watu thelasini kutoka hapa na mtoe Yeremia nabii nje ya kisima kabla hajafa.”
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 Basi Ebed Meleki alichukua amri ya watu hao na akaenda nyumba ya mfalme, kwenye ghala la nguo chini ya nyumba. Toka hapo alichukua vitambaa na nguo zilizochanika na kuyashusha chini kwa kamba kwa Yeremia ndani ya kisima.
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 Ebed Meleki Mkushi alisema kwa Yeremia, “Weka matambara na nguo zilizoraruka chini ya mikono yako na juu ya kamba.” Basi Yeremia alifanya hivyo.
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 Kisha walimvuta Yeremia kwa kamba. Kwa njia hii walimtoa kutoka kisimani. Basi Yeremia alibaki kwenye uwanja wa mlinzi.
Then they pulled me out of the well. I [returned] to the courtyard where the palace guards stayed, and I stayed there.
14 Kisha Mfalme Sedekia alituma neno na kumleta Yeremia nabii kwake, kwenye lango la tatu la nyumba ya Yahwe. Mfalme alisema kwa Yeremia, “Nataka nikuulize kitu. Usinizuilie jibu mimi.”
[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 Yeremia alisema kwa Sedekia, “Kama nakujibu, hautaniuawa kwa hakika? Na kama nakupa ushauri, hautanisikiliza mimi.”
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 Lakini Mfalme Sedekia aliapa kwa Yeremia kwa siri na kusema, “Kama Yahwe aishivyo, yeye aliyetufanya sisi, Sitakuuwa au kukuweka kwenye mkono wa watu wale wanaotafuta maisha yako.”
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 Kwa hiyo Yeremia alisema kwa Sedekia, “Yahwe, Mungu wa majeshi, Mungu wa Israel, asema hivi: Kama kwa kweli utatoka kwenda kwa maafisa wa mfalme wa Babeli basi utaishi, and mji huu hautachomwa. Wewe na familia yako mtaishi.
[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 Lakini kama hautaenda kwa maafisa wa mfalme wa Babeli, basi mji huu utachukuliwa kwa mkono wa Wakaldayo. Watauchoma, na hautakwepa kutoka mkono wao.”
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 Mfalme Sedekia alisema kwa Yeremia, “Lakini ninaogopa watu wa Yuda waliotoka jangwani kwenda kwa Wakaldayo, kwa sababu nitapewa katika mkono wao, kwa kunifanyia vibaya.”
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 Yeremia alisema, “Hawatakutoa kwao. Tii ujumbe toka kwa Yahwe ambao ninakuambia, ili kusudi mambo yataenda vizuri kwako, na ili kusudi utaishi.
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 Lakini kama unakataa kutoka, hivi ndivyo Yahwe amenionesha mimi.
But if you refuse to surrender, this is what Yahweh has revealed to me:
22 Tazama! Wanawake wote walioachwa kwenye nyumba yako, mfalme wa Yuda, ataletwa kwa maafisa wa mfalme wa Babeli. Hawa wanawake watasema kwako, “Umedaganywa na rafiki zako; wamekuharibu. Miguu yako sasa imezama kwenye matope, na rafiki zako watakimbia.'
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 Kwa kuwa wake zenu wote na watoto wataletwa kwa Wakaldayo, na wewe mwenyewe hautatoroka nchi yao. Utashikwa na mkono wa mfalme wa Babeli, na mji huu utachomwa.”
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 Kisha Sedekia alisema kwa Yeremia, “Usimjulishe yeyote kuhusu maneno haya, ili kwamba usije kufa.
Then Zedekiah said to me, “Do not tell anyone what you told me; if you tell anyone, my officials may kill you.
25 Kama maafisa wanasikia kwamba nimeongea na wewe- kama wanakuja na kusema kwako, 'Tuambia umezungumza nini pamoja na mfalme. Usitufiche, au tutakuuwa. Na tuambie nini mfalme amesema kwako'-
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 kisha unapaswa kusema nao, “Nilishawishiana pamoja na mfalme asirudi kwangu kwa nyumba ya Yonathan nitakufa humo.”
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 Kisha maafisa wote walikuja kwa Yeremia na kumuuliza, basi aliwajibu kama mfalme alivyomuelekeza. Basi waliacha kuongea pamoja naye, kwa sababu hawakusikia mazungumzo kati ya Yeremia na mfalme.
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 Basi Yeremia alibaki kwenye uwanja wa mlinzi mpaka siku ile Yerusalem ilipotekwa.
So I remained being guarded in the courtyard [of the palace], until the day that [the army of Babylonia] captured Jerusalem.
