Jeremias 38

1 At that time, says the Lord, I will be a God to the family of Israel, and they shall be to me a people.

Šefatja, sin Matanov, i Gedalija, sin Pašhurov, i Jukal, sin Šelemjin, i Pašhur, sin Malkijin, čuše tada za riječi što ih Jeremija kaza svemu narodu:

2 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.

“Ovako govori Jahve: 'Tko ostane u ovome gradu, poginut će od mača, gladi i kuge. A tko izađe pred Kaldejce, spasit će život - život će mu ostati kao plijen, ostat će živ.'

3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, [saying], I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore have I drawn you in compassion.

Jer ovako govori Jahve: 'Ovaj će grad odista pasti u ruke vojsci kralja babilonskoga i ona će ga zauzeti!'”

4 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.

Tada dostojanstvenici rekoše kralju: “Ovoga čovjeka valja ubiti: on zaista obeshrabruje ratnike koji su još ostali u gradu i sav narod kad takve riječi pred njima govori. Pa taj čovjek ne traži dobrobit ovoga naroda, nego njegovu propast.”

5 For you have planted vineyards on the mountains of Samaria: plant you, and praise.

A kralj Sidkija odgovori: “Eto, on je u vašim rukama, jer kralj ionako više nema nikakve vlasti nad vama.”

6 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.

Tada pograbiše Jeremiju i baciše ga u čatrnju kraljevića Malkije, što je bila u tamničkom dvorištu, i oni ga spustiše na užetima. Ali u čatrnji ne bijaše vode, već samo glib, tako da Jeremija propade u glib.

7 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.

Ali Kušit Ebed-Melek, dvorjanin koji bijaše u kraljevskom dvoru, doču da su Jeremiju bacili u čatrnju dok je kralj upravo sjedio kod Benjaminovih vrata.

8 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.

Tada Ebed-Melek izađe iz kraljevskog dvora te ovako reče kralju:

9 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.

“Gospodaru, kralju moj, zlo čine ovi ljudi kad tako postupaju s prorokom Jeremijom: bacili su ga u čatrnju, gdje će od gladi umrijeti, jer nema kruha u gradu.”

10 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.

Nato kralj zapovjedi Kušitu Ebed-Meleku: “Povedi trojicu ljudi te izvuci proroka Jeremiju iz čatrnje dok nije umro.”

11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them [that were] stronger than he.

I Ebed-Melek povede ljude, uđe u kraljevski dvor, pod riznicu: uze ondje nešto iznošenih i poderanih dronjaka te ih na užetu spusti Jeremiji u čatrnju.

12 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.

Kušit Ebed-Melek reče Jeremiji: “Podmetni iznošene i poderane dronjke pod pazuha i pod užad.” Jeremija učini tako.

13 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.

Tada na užetima izvukoše Jeremiju iz čatrnje. Otada Jeremija ostade u tamničkom dvorištu.

14 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.

Kralj Sidkija posla po proroka Jeremiju te ga pozva da dođe k njemu na treći ulaz što vodi u Dom Jahvin. Kralj reče Jeremiji: “Htio bih te nešto upitati, nemoj mi ni riječi zatajiti!”

15 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.

Jeremija odgovori Sidkiji: “Ako ti kažem, nećeš li me pogubiti? Ako te pak posvjetujem, nećeš me poslušati!”

16 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.

Tada se kralj Sidkija u tajnosti zakle Jeremiji ovim riječima: “Živoga mi Jahve, koji nam daje ovaj život, neću te pogubiti i neću te predati onima što ti rade o glavi.”

17 [There shall be] an dwelling [home] for your children.

Jeremija, dakle, reče Sidkiji: “Ovako govori Jahve, Bog nad Vojskama, Bog Izraelov: 'Ako izađeš pred vojskovođe kralja babilonskoga, spasit ćeš glavu i ovaj grad neće biti uništen požarom; živjet ćete ti i tvoj dom.

18 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.

Ako pak ne izađeš pred vojskovođe kralja babilonskoga, ovaj će grad pasti u ruke Kaldejaca i oni će ga spaliti, a ti se nećeš spasiti iz ruku njihovih.'”

19 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.

A kralj Sidkija odgovori Jeremiji: “Bojim se Judejaca koji su prebjegli Kaldejcima: mogli bi mene predati njima da mi se izruguju.”

20 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.

Jeremija odvrati: “Oni to neće učiniti. Poslušaj glas Jahvin prema kojem sam ti govorio, bit će ti dobro i spasit ćeš život svoj.

21 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.

Ali ako ne htjedneš iz grada, evo riječi koju mi Jahve objavi:

22 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.

'Gle, sve žene koje su još ostale u dvoru kralja judejskoga bit će odvedene k vojskovođama kralja babilonskoga i govorit će: Zaveli te, svladali te vjerni prijatelji tvoji! Kad ti noge u kal propadaju, oni te napuštaju!'

23 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!

Da, sve će žene tvoje i djecu tvoju odvesti Kaldejcima, a ni ti sam nećeš umaći rukama njihovim: dospjet ćeš u ruke kralju babilonskom, a grad će ovaj biti spaljen.”

24 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.

Sidkija reče Jeremiji: “Nitko živ ne smije o tome što saznati, inače ćeš umrijeti.

25 For I have saturated every thirsting soul, and filled every hungry soul.

Ako, dakle, dostojanstvenici doznaju da sam s tobom razgovarao te dođu k tebi i kažu: 'TÓa očituj nam što kralj kaza tebi, a ti njemu; ne krij ništa pred nama, inače ćemo te ubiti',

26 Therefore I awake, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

odgovori im: 'Molio sam kralja da me više ne vrati u kuću Jonatanovu, da ondje ne umrem!'”

27 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.

I doista, dođoše dostojanstvenici k Jeremiji te ga ispitivahu. Ali im on odgovori upravo onako kako mu kralj bijaše naredio. Tada ga se okaniše, jer se ništa nije pročulo o onom razgovoru.

28 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.

Jeremiju, dakle, ostaviše u tamničkom dvorištu sve do dana kad neprijatelj zauze Jeruzalem. Kad Jeruzalem zauzeše, on bijaše ondje.

29 In those days they shall certainly not say, The fathers ate a sour grape, and the children's teeth were set on edge.

30 But every one shall die in his own sin; and the teeth of him that eats the sour grape shall be set on edge.

31 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:

32 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.

33 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.

34 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.

35 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:

36 if these ordinances cease from before me, says the Lord, then shall the family of Israel cease to be a nation before me forever.

37 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.

38 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.

39 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.

40 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.