Jeremiah 34
Contemporary English Version
Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
34 (A) King Nebuchadnezzar[a] had a large army made up of people from every kingdom in his empire. He and his army were attacking Jerusalem and all the nearby towns, when the Lord told me 2 to say to King Zedekiah:[b]
I am the Lord, and I am going to let Nebuchadnezzar capture this city and burn it down. 3 You will be taken prisoner and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, and he will speak with you face to face. Then you will be led away to Babylonia.
4 Zedekiah, I promise that you won't die in battle. 5 You will die a peaceful death. People will mourn when you die, and they will light bonfires in your honor, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you.
6 I went to Zedekiah and told him what the Lord had said. 7 Meanwhile, the king of Babylonia was trying to break through the walls of Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem, the only three towns of Judah that had not been captured.
The People Break a Promise
8-10 King Zedekiah,[c] his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrew[d] men and women who were slaves. No Jew would keep another as a slave. And so, all the Jewish slaves were given their freedom.
11 But those slave owners changed their minds and forced their former slaves back into slavery.
12 That's when the Lord told me to say to the people:
13 I am the Lord God of Israel, and I made an agreement with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves. 14 (B) As part of this agreement, you must let a Hebrew slave go free after six years of service.
Your ancestors did not obey me, 15-16 but you decided to obey me and do the right thing by setting your Hebrew slaves completely free. You even went to my temple, and in my name you made an agreement to set them free. But you have abused my name, because you broke that agreement and forced your former slaves back into slavery.
17 You have disobeyed me by not giving your slaves their freedom. So I will give you freedom—the freedom to die in battle or from disease or hunger. I will make you disgusting to all other nations on earth.
18 You asked me to be a witness when you made the agreement to set your slaves free. And as part of the ceremony you cut a calf into two parts, then walked between the parts. But you people of Jerusalem have broken that agreement as well as my agreement with Israel. So I will do to you what you did to that calf. 19-20 I will let your enemies take all of you prisoner, including the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the royal officials, the priests, and everyone else who walked between the two parts of the calf. These enemies will kill you and leave your bodies lying on the ground as food for birds and wild animals.
21-22 These enemies are King Nebuchadnezzar[e] of Babylonia and his army. They have stopped attacking Jerusalem, but they want to kill King Zedekiah and his high officials. So I will command them to return and attack again. This time they will conquer the city and burn it down, and they will capture Zedekiah and his officials. I will also let them destroy the towns of Judah, so that no one can live there any longer.
Ieremia 34
Cornilescu 1924 - Revised 2010, 2014
Prorocie asupra soartei lui Ezechia
34 Iată cuvântul spus lui Ieremia din partea Domnului când(A) Nebucadneţar, împăratul Babilonului, cu toată oştirea sa şi toate împărăţiile(B) pământului de sub stăpânirea lui şi toate popoarele făceau război împotriva Ierusalimului şi împotriva tuturor cetăţilor care ţineau de el: 2 Aşa vorbeşte Domnul, Dumnezeul lui Israel: „Du-te de spune lui Zedechia, împăratul lui Iuda, şi zi-i: ‘Aşa vorbeşte Domnul: «Iată(C), dau cetatea aceasta în mâinile împăratului Babilonului şi o va(D) arde cu foc. 3 Şi tu(E) nu vei scăpa din mâinile lui, ci vei fi luat şi dat în mâna lui, vei da ochi cu împăratul Babilonului, el îţi va vorbi gură către gură şi vei merge la Babilon.» 4 Numai, ascultă Cuvântul Domnului, Zedechia, împăratul lui Iuda!’ Aşa vorbeşte Domnul despre tine: ‘Nu vei muri ucis de sabie, 5 ci vei muri în pace şi, cum au ars miresme(F) pentru părinţii tăi, vechii împăraţi, care au fost înaintea ta, tot aşa vor arde(G) şi pentru tine şi te vor(H) jeli, zicând: «Vai, doamne!» Căci Eu am rostit cuvântul acesta’, zice Domnul.” 6 Prorocul Ieremia a spus toate aceste cuvinte lui Zedechia, împăratul lui Iuda, la Ierusalim, 7 pe când oastea împăratului Babilonului lupta împotriva Ierusalimului şi împotriva tuturor celorlalte cetăţi ale lui Iuda, împotriva Lachisului şi Azechei, căci acestea erau cetăţile(I) care mai rămăseseră din toate cetăţile întărite ale lui Iuda.
Ameninţări
8 Iată cuvântul spus lui Ieremia din partea Domnului, după ce împăratul Zedechia făcuse o învoială cu tot poporul Ierusalimului ca să vestească slobozenia(J) robilor, 9 pentru ca(K) fiecare să lase slobozi pe robul şi roaba sa, pe evreu şi pe evreică, şi nimeni(L) să nu mai ţină în robie pe fratele său iudeu. 10 Toate căpeteniile şi tot poporul care făcuseră învoiala s-au legat să lase slobozi fiecare pe robul şi roaba lui şi să nu-i mai ţină în robie. Ei au ascultat şi le-au dat drumul. 11 Dar, mai pe urmă(M), s-au răzgândit, au luat înapoi pe robii şi roabele pe care-i sloboziseră şi i-au silit să le fie iarăşi robi şi roabe. 12 Atunci, Cuvântul Domnului a vorbit lui Ieremia din partea Domnului astfel: 13 „Aşa vorbeşte Domnul, Dumnezeul lui Israel: ‘Eu am făcut un legământ cu părinţii voştri în ziua când i-am scos din ţara Egiptului, din casa robiei şi le-am zis: 14 «După şapte(N) ani, fiecare din voi să lase slobod pe fratele său evreu care i se vinde lui; şase ani să-ţi slujească şi apoi să-l laşi slobod de la tine.» Dar părinţii voştri nu M-au ascultat şi n-au luat aminte la Mine. 15 Voi v-aţi întors astăzi în voi înşivă, aţi făcut ce este bine înaintea Mea, vestind fiecare slobozenia pentru aproapele său, şi aţi făcut o învoială(O) înaintea Mea, în Casa(P) peste care este chemat Numele Meu. 16 Dar pe urmă v-aţi luat vorba îndărăt şi Mi-aţi pângărit(Q) Numele, luând iarăşi înapoi fiecare pe robii şi roabele pe care-i sloboziserăţi şi-i lăsaserăţi în voia lor, şi i-aţi silit să vă fie iarăşi robi şi roabe.’ 17 De aceea aşa vorbeşte Domnul: ‘Nu M-aţi ascultat ca să vestiţi slobozenia(R) fiecare pentru fratele său, fiecare pentru aproapele său. Iată, Eu vestesc împotriva voastră, zice Domnul, slobozenia sabiei(S), ciumei şi foametei şi vă voi face de pomină printre toate împărăţiile(T) pământului. 18 Şi pe oamenii care au călcat legământul Meu, care n-au păzit îndatoririle învoielii pe care o făcuseră înaintea Mea, tăind(U) un viţel în două şi trecând printre cele două jumătăţi ale lui, 19 şi anume pe căpeteniile lui Iuda şi pe căpeteniile Ierusalimului, pe famenii dregători, pe preoţi şi pe tot poporul ţării, care au trecut printre bucăţile viţelului, 20 îi voi da în mâinile vrăjmaşilor lor, în mâinile celor ce vor să le ia viaţa, şi trupurile lor moarte(V) vor sluji ca hrană păsărilor cerului şi fiarelor câmpului. 21 Dar pe Zedechia, împăratul lui Iuda, şi pe căpeteniile lui, îi voi da în mâinile vrăjmaşilor lor, în mâinile celor ce vor să le ia viaţa, în mâinile oştirii împăratului Babilonului, care(W) a plecat de la voi! 22 Iată(X), voi da poruncă, zice Domnul, şi-i voi aduce înapoi împotriva cetăţii acesteia; o vor(Y) bate, o vor lua şi o vor arde cu foc. Şi voi preface(Z) cetăţile lui Iuda într-un pustiu fără locuitori’.”
Jeremiah 34
New International Version
Warning to Zedekiah
34 While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples(A) in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem(B) and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah(C) king of Judah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.(D) 3 You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and given into his hands.(E) You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.
4 “‘Yet hear the Lord’s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword;(F) 5 you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fire(G) in honor of your predecessors, the kings who ruled before you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, “Alas,(H) master!” I myself make this promise, declares the Lord.’”
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out—Lachish(I) and Azekah.(J) These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.
Freedom for Slaves
8 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people(K) in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom(L) for the slaves. 9 Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage.(M) 10 So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. 11 But afterward they changed their minds(N) and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors(O) when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.(P) I said, 14 ‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you six years, you must let them go free.’[a](Q) Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attention(R) to me. 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people.(S) You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name.(T) 16 But now you have turned around(U) and profaned(V) my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you,(W) declares the Lord—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague(X) and famine.(Y) I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.(Z) 18 Those who have violated my covenant(AA) and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.(AB) 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials,(AC) the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, 20 I will deliver(AD) into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them.(AE) Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.(AF)
21 “I will deliver Zedekiah(AG) king of Judah and his officials(AH) into the hands of their enemies(AI) who want to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon,(AJ) which has withdrawn(AK) from you. 22 I am going to give the order, declares the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take(AL) it and burn(AM) it down. And I will lay waste(AN) the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 34:14 Deut. 15:12
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