< Jeremiah 27 >

1 When Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, first became king this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
In the bigynnyng of the rewme of Joachym, the sone of Josie, kyng of Juda, this word was maad of the Lord to Jeremye, and seide,
2 This is what the Lord has said to me: Make for yourself bands and yokes and put them on your neck;
The Lord seith these thingis to me, Make thou to thee boondis and chaynes, and thou schalt putte tho in thi necke;
3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Zidon, by their servants who come to Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, king of Judah;
and thou schalt sende tho to the kyng of Edom, and to the kyng of Moab, and to the kyng of the sones of Amon, and to the kyng of Tyre, and to the kyng of Sidon, bi the hond of messangeris that camen to Jerusalem, and to Sedechie, kyng of Juda.
4 And give them orders to say to their masters, This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Say to your masters,
And thou schalt comaunde to hem, that thei speke to her lordis, The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Ye schulen seie these thingis to youre lordis,
5 I have made the earth, and man and beast on the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I will give it to anyone at my pleasure.
Y made erthe, and man, and beestis that ben on the face of al erthe, in my greet strengthe, and in myn arm holdun forth; and Y yaf it to hym that plesyde bifore myn iyen.
6 And now I have given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant; and I have given the beasts of the field to him for his use.
And now therfor Y yaf alle these londis in the hond of Nabugodonosor, my seruaunt, the kyng of Babiloyne; ferthermore and Y yaf to hym the beestis of the feeld, that thei serue hym.
7 And all the nations will be servants to him and to his son and to his son's son, till the time comes for his land to be overcome: and then a number of nations and great kings will take it for their use.
And alle folkis schulen serue hym, and his sone, and the sone of his sone, til the tyme of his lond and of hym come; and many folkis and grete kyngis schulen serue hym.
8 And it will come about, that if any nation does not become a servant to this same Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and does not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, then I will send punishment on that nation, says the Lord, by the sword and need of food and by disease, till I have given them into his hands.
Forsothe the folk and rewme that serueth not Nabugodonosor, kyng of Babiloyne, and whoeuer bowith not his necke vndur the yok of the kyng of Babiloyne, Y schal visite on that folk in swerd, and hungur, and pestilence, seith the Lord, til Y waaste hem in his hond.
9 And you are not to give attention to your prophets or your readers of signs or your dreamers or those who see into the future or those who make use of secret arts, who say to you, You will not become servants of the king of Babylon:
Therfor nyle ye here youre profetis, and false dyuynouris, and dremeris, and dyuyneris bi chiteryng and fleyng of briddis, and witchis, that seien to you, Ye schulen not serue the kyng of Babiloyne;
10 For they say false words to you, so that you may be sent away far from your land, and so that you may be forced out by me and come to destruction.
for thei profesien a lessyng to you, that thei make you fer fro youre lond, and caste out you, and ye perische.
11 But as for that nation which puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and becomes his servant, I will let that nation keep on in its land, farming it and living in it, says the Lord.
Certis the folk that makith suget her nol vndur the yok of the kyng of Babiloyne, and serueth hym, Y schal dismytte it in his lond, seith the Lord; and it schal tile that lond, and schal dwelle therynne.
12 And I said all this to Zedekiah, king of Judah, saying, Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and become his servants and his people, so that you may keep your lives.
And Y spak bi alle these wordis to Sedechie, kyng of Juda, and Y seide, Make ye suget youre neckis vndur the yok of the kyng of Babiloyne, and serue ye hym, and his puple, and ye schulen lyue.
13 Why are you desiring death, you and your people, by the sword, and because food is gone, and by disease, as the Lord has said of the nation which does not become the servant of the king of Babylon?
Whi schulen ye die, thou and thi puple, bi swerd, and hungur, and pestilence, as the Lord spak to the folk, that nolde serue to the kyng of Babiloyne?
14 And you are not to give ear to the prophets who say to you, You will not become servants of the king of Babylon: for what they say is not true.
Nyle ye here the wordis of profetis seiynge to you, Ye schulen not serue the kyng of Babiloyne; for thei speken leesyng to you, for Y sente not hem, seith the Lord;
15 For I have not sent them, says the Lord, but they are saying what is false in my name, so that I might send you out by force, causing destruction to come on you and on your prophets.
and thei profesien falsly in my name, that thei caste out you, and that ye perische, bothe ye and the profetis that profesien to you.
16 And I said to the priests and to all the people, This is what the Lord has said: Give no attention to the words of your prophets who say to you, See, in a very little time now the vessels of the Lord's house will come back again from Babylon: for what they say to you is false.
And Y spak to the preestis, and to this puple, and Y seide, The Lord God seith these thingis, Nyle ye here the wordis of youre profetis, that profesien to you, and seien, Lo! the vessels of the Lord schulen turne ayen now soone fro Babiloyne; for thei profesien a leesyng to you.
17 Give no attention to them; become servants of the king of Babylon and keep yourselves from death: why let this town become a waste?
Therfor nyle ye here hem, but serue ye to the kyng of Babiloyne, that ye lyue; whi is this citee youun in to wildirnesse?
18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now make request to the Lord of armies that the vessels which are still in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.
And if thei ben profetis, and if the word of God is in hem, renne thei to the Lord of oostis, that the vessels whiche weren left in the hous of the Lord, and in the hous of the kyng of Juda, and in Jerusalem, come not in to Babiloyne.
19 For this is what the Lord has said about the rest of the vessels which are still in this town,
For the Lord of oostis seith these thingis to the pilers, and to the see, that is, a greet waischyng vessel, and to the foundementis, and to the remenauntis of vessels, that weren left in this citee,
20 Which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did not take away, when he took Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, a prisoner from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the great men of Judah and Jerusalem;
whiche Nabugodonosor, king of Babiloyne, took not, whanne he translatide Jeconye, the sone of Joachim, king of Juda, fro Jerusalem in to Babiloyne, and alle the principal men of Juda and of Jerusalem.
21 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said about the rest of the vessels in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem:
For the Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis to the vessels that ben left in the hous of the Lord, and in the hous of the king of Juda, and in Jerusalem, Tho schulen be translatid in to Babiloyne,
22 They will be taken away to Babylon, and there they will be till the day when I send their punishment on them, says the Lord. Then I will take them up and put them back in their place.
and schulen be there `til to the dai of her visitacioun, seith the Lord; and Y schal make tho to be brouyt, and to be restorid in this place.

< Jeremiah 27 >