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38 ¶ Chefatya, pitit Matan, Gedalya, pitit Pachou, Jeoukal, pitit Chelemya, ak Pachou, pitit Malkya, te vin konnen Jeremi t'ap pale ak pèp la. Li t'ap di yo konsa:

-Men mesaj Seyè a bay: tout moun ki va rete nan lavil la pral mouri. Sa ki pa mouri nan lagè pral mouri grangou, osinon move maladi ap pote yo ale. Men, tout moun ki va soti al rann tèt yo bay moun Babilòn yo p'ap mouri. Y'a sove lavi yo.

Wi, men sa Seyè a di: Mwen pral lage lavil la nan men lame moun Babilòn yo. Y'ap pran lavil la pou yo.

Chèf yo al di wa a: -Se pou yo touye nonm sa a. Paske lè l'ap pale konsa, li fè sòlda yo ansanm ak tout lòt moun ki rete nan lavil la pèdi kouraj. Nonm sa a pa soti pou l' ede pèp la. Se mal ase li vle pou li.

Wa Sedesyas reponn: -Bon! Fè sa nou vle avè l'. Mwen pa ka di nou anyen.

Se konsa, te gen yon gwo pi nan lakou palè a ki te pou Malkija, pitit gason wa a. Yo pran Jeremi, yo desann li nan fon sitèn lan avèk kòd. Pa t' gen dlo ladan l', men te gen anpil labou. Jeremi antre nan labou a.

Lè sa a, te gen yon moun peyi Letiopi ki te rele Ebèdmelèk. Se te yon nèg konfyans ki t'ap travay lakay wa a. Li vin konnen yo te mete Jeremi nan sitèn lan. Jou sa a, wa a te chita ap rann jijman bò Pòtay Benjamen an.

Ebèdmelèk soti nan palè a, li ale bò pòtay la, li di wa a konsa:

-Monwa, mèt mwen, sa mesye yo fè pwofèt Jeremi an pa bon non. Yo desann li nan fon sitèn lan kote, wè pa wè, l'ap mouri grangou, paske pa gen pen lavil la ankò.

10 Lè sa a, wa a bay Ebèdmelèk lòd pou li pran trant lòt moun avè l' pou li wete Jeremi nan sitèn lan anvan l' mouri.

11 Se konsa Ebelmelèk pran moun yo avè l', li antre nan palè a, li ale yon kote ki anba pyès depo richès wa a, li pran yon bann moso twal chire ak vye rad, li mare yo nan kòd, li file yo desann bay Jeremi nan sitèn lan.

12 Epi li di Jeremi konsa: -Mete moso twal yo ak vye rad yo anba zesèl ou pou kòd yo pa kòche ou. Jeremi fè sa vre.

13 Epi yo rale l' moute soti nan sitèn lan avèk kòd yo. Apre sa, Jeremi rete nan lakou gad palè yo.

14 ¶ Yon lòt fwa ankò, wa Sedesyas voye chache pwofèt Jeremi, li fè yo mennen l' ba li bò twazyèm pòt pou antre nan kay Seyè a. Wa a di l' konsa: -Mwen gen yon bagay m' bezwen mande ou. Reponn mwen kare, pa kache m' anyen.

15 Jeremi reponn li: -Ala, si mwen pale ou kare, w'ap fè yo touye m'. Si m' ba ou yon konsèy, ou p'ap koute m'.

16 Wa Sedesyas rele Jeremi sou kote, li fè l' sèman. Li di l' konsa: -Mwen pran Bondye vivan an, Bondye ki ban nou lavi a, pou temwen, mwen p'ap fè touye ou, ni mwen p'ap lage ou nan men moun ki vle touye ou yo.

17 Lè sa a, Jeremi di Sedesyas konsa: -Men sa Seyè a, Bondye ki gen tout pouvwa a, Bondye pèp Izrayèl la, di: Si ou al rann tèt ou bay chèf wa Babilòn lan, yo p'ap touye ou. Yo p'ap boule lavil la. Yo p'ap touye ni ou menm, ni fanmi ou.

18 Men, si ou pa al rann tèt ou bay chèf yo, lavil la pral tonbe nan men moun Babilòn yo, y'ap boule l'. Lèfini, ou p'ap ka chape anba men yo.

19 Wa Sedesyas reponn: -Ou konnen sa m' pè? Se moun peyi Jida yo ki deja al rann tèt yo bay moun Babilòn yo. Mwen pè pou moun Babilòn yo pa lage m' nan men yo pou yo maltrete m'.

20 Jeremi di l' konsa: -Moun Babilòn yo p'ap fè ou sa. Koute mesaj Seyè a ba ou nan sa mwen di ou la a, pou tout bagay pase byen pou ou. Konsa ou p'ap mouri.

21 Si ou derefize al rann tèt ou, men sa ki pral rive ou, dapre sa Seyè a fè m' wè:

22 Yo pral pran tout fanm ki rete nan palè wa Jida a, y'ap mennen yo bay chèf wa Babilòn lan. Medam yo pral di: Moun ki te pi bon zanmi wa a pran tèt li, yo fè l' fè sa yo vle. Koulye a, bra msye pran n'a pèlen. Yo kouri kite l' pou kont li.

23 Yo pral pran tout madanm ou yo, tout pitit ou yo, y'ap mennen yo bay moun Babilòn yo. Ou menm, ou p'ap chape anba men yo. Wa Babilòn lan ap fè ou prizonye, lèfini l'ap fè mete dife nan lavil sa a.

24 Sedesyas di Jeremi konsa: -Pa kite pesonn konnen tout pawòl sa yo. Konsa ou p'ap mouri.

25 Si chèf yo rive konnen mwen te pale avè ou, y'ap vin jwenn ou, y'ap mande ou sa ou te di m' ak sa m' te reponn ou. Y'ap pwomèt yo p'ap touye ou si ou pa kache yo anyen.

26 Lè sa a, w'a reponn yo: Se mande mwen t'ap mande wa a, tanpri souple, pou l' pa voye m' tounen nan prizon lakay Jonatan pou m' pa mouri la.

27 Tout chèf yo vini jwenn Jeremi vre. Yo mande l' yon bann pawòl. Jeremi reponn yo jan wa a te di l' la. Pa t' gen anyen chèf yo te ka fè paske pesonn pa t' tande koze Jeremi te gen ak wa a.

28 Jeremi rete nan lakou gad palè yo jouk jou yo pran lavil Jerizalèm.

Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern

38 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur(A), Jehukal[a](B) son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague,(C) but whoever goes over to the Babylonians[b] will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’(D) And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”(E)

Then the officials(F) said to the king, “This man should be put to death.(G) He is discouraging(H) the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”

“He is in your hands,”(I) King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing(J) to oppose you.”

So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard.(K) They lowered Jeremiah by ropes(L) into the cistern; it had no water in it,(M) only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.(N)

But Ebed-Melek,(O) a Cushite,[c] an official[d](P) in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,(Q) Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him, “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern,(R) where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread(S) in the city.”

10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

11 So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes(T) to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.(U)

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

14 Then King Zedekiah sent(V) for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide(W) anything from me.”

15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly(X) to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath,(Y) I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.”(Z)

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender(AA) to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.(AB) 18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands(AC) of the Babylonians and they will burn(AD) it down; you yourself will not escape(AE) from them.’”

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid(AF) of the Jews who have gone over(AG) to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

20 “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey(AH) the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well(AI) with you, and your life(AJ) will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: 22 All the women(AK) left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:

“‘They misled you and overcame you—
    those trusted friends(AL) of yours.
Your feet are sunk in the mud;(AM)
    your friends have deserted you.’

23 “All your wives and children(AN) will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape(AO) from their hands but will be captured(AP) by the king of Babylon; and this city will[e] be burned down.”(AQ)

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know(AR) about this conversation, or you may die. 25 If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ 26 then tell(AS) them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house(AT) to die there.’”

27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.

28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard(AU) until the day Jerusalem was captured.

The Fall of Jerusalem(AV)

This is how Jerusalem(AW) was taken:

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 38:1 Hebrew Jukal, a variant of Jehukal
  2. Jeremiah 38:2 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 18, 19 and 23
  3. Jeremiah 38:7 Probably from the upper Nile region
  4. Jeremiah 38:7 Or a eunuch
  5. Jeremiah 38:23 Or and you will cause this city to