Jeremiæ 34

1 Verbum, quod factum est ad Ieremiam a Domino, quando Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis, et omnis exercitus eius, universaque regna terræ, quæ erant sub potestate manus eius, et omnes populi bellabant contra Ierusalem, et contra omnes urbes eius, dicens:

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with the armies of all the kingdoms that he ruled, and they fought against Jerusalem and the other towns [in Judah]. At that time, Yahweh gave me this message:

2 Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israel: Vade, et loquere ad Sedeciam regem Iuda: et dices ad eum: Hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego tradam civitatem hanc in manus regis Babylonis, et succendet eam igni.

“Go to Zedekiah the King of Judah, and say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], says: “I am about to enable the army of the King of Babylon to capture this city, and they will burn it down.

3 Et tu non effugies de manu eius: sed comprehensione capieris, et in manu eius traderis: et oculi tui oculos regis Babylonis videbunt, et os eius cum ore tuo loquetur, et Babylonem introibis.

You will not escape from them; they will capture you and take you to the king of Babylon. And [then] they will take you to Babylon.”’

4 Attamen audi verbum Domini Sedecia rex Iuda: Hæc dicit Dominus ad te: Non morieris in gladio,

But King Zedekiah, listen to this that Yahweh has promised: ‘You will not be killed in a battle [MTY];

5 sed in pace morieris, et secundum combustiones patrum tuorum regum priorum qui fuerunt ante te, sic comburent te: et Væ domine, plangent te: quia verbum ego locutus sum, dicit Dominus.

you will die peacefully. [When you die], people will burn incense to honor/remember you just as they did for your ancestors who were kings before you became king. They will mourn for you, crying, “We are very sad that our king is dead!” I, Yahweh, promise that will happen.’”

6 Et locutus est Ieremias propheta ad Sedeciam regem Iuda universa verba hæc in Ierusalem.

[So] I took that message to King Zedekiah.

7 Et exercitus regis Babylonis pugnabat contra Ierusalem, et contra omnes civitates Iuda, quæ reliquæ erant contra Lachis, et contra Azecha: hæ enim supererant de civitatibus Iuda, urbes munitæ.

At that time the army of Babylonia had surrounded Jerusalem and Lachish and Azekah. Those [three] cities were the only cities in Judah that had high walls around them that still had not been captured.

8 Verbum, quod factum est ad Ieremiam a Domino, postquam percussit rex Sedecias fœdus cum omni populo in Ierusalem, prædicans:

King Zedekiah had decreed that the people must free their slaves.

9 Ut dimitteret unusquisque servum suum, et unusquisque ancillam suam, Hebræum et Hebræam liberos: et nequaquam dominarentur eis, id est in Iudæo et fratre suo.

[He decreed that] the people must free their Hebrew slaves, [both the] men slaves and the women [slaves]. No one would be allowed to force a fellow Jew to [continue to] be his slave.

10 Audierunt ergo omnes principes et universus populus, qui inierant pactum ut dimitteret unusquisque servum suum, et unusquisque ancillam suam liberos, et ultra non dominarentur eis: audierunt igitur, et dimiserunt.

The officials and the rest of the people had obeyed [what the king decreed],

11 Et conversi sunt deinceps: et retraxerunt servos et ancillas suas, quos dimiserant liberos, et subiugaverunt in famulos et famulas.

but later they changed their minds. They forced the men and women whom they had freed to become their slaves again.

12 Et factum est verbum Domini ad Ieremiam a Domino, dicens:

[So] Yahweh gave me this message [to tell to them]:

13 Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israel: Ego percussi fœdus cum patribus vestris in die, qua eduxi eos de Terra Ægypti de domo servitutis, dicens:

“I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israelis [say you belong to], (made an agreement with/gave this command to) your ancestors [long ago], when I rescued them from being slaves in Egypt.

14 Cum completi fuerint septem anni, dimittat unusquisque fratrem suum Hebræum, qui venditus est ei, et serviet tibi sex annis: et dimittes eum a te liberum: et non audierunt patres vestri me, nec inclinaverunt aurem suam.

I told them that they must free all their Hebrew slaves after the slaves had worked for them for six years. But your ancestors did not pay any attention to what I said.

15 Et conversi estis vos hodie, et fecistis quod rectum est in oculis meis, ut prædicaretis libertatem unusquisque ad amicum suum: et inistis pactum in conspectu meo in domo, in qua invocatum est nomen meum super eam.

Recently, you obeyed my command and stopped doing what was wrong and did what was right. You made a solemn agreement at my temple [that you would free your slaves], and [then] you freed them.

16 Et reversi estis, et commaculastis nomen meum: et reduxistis unusquisque servum suum, et unusquisque ancillam suam, quos dimiseratis ut essent liberi et suæ potestatis: et subiugastis eos ut sint vobis servi et ancillæ.

But now you have disregarded what you solemnly promised, and you have shown contempt for what I [MTY] said by taking back the women and men whom you had freed and said they could live wherever they wanted to. [Now] you have forced them to be your slaves again.

17 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus: Vos non audistis me, ut prædicaretis libertatem unusquisque fratri suo, et unusquisque amico suo: ecce ego prædico vobis libertatem, ait Dominus ad gladium, ad pestem, et ad famem: et dabo vos in commotionem cunctis regnis terræ.

Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh, say: ‘Because you have not obeyed me by freeing your fellow Israelis, I will free you to [be destroyed by] the swords [of your enemies] and by famines and diseases. All the nations of the earth will be horrified because of [what happens to] you.

18 Et dabo viros, qui prævaricantur fœdus meum, et non observaverunt verba fœderis, quibus assensi sunt in conspectu meo, vitulum quem conciderunt in duas partes, et transierunt inter divisiones eius:

Because you have disregarded what I said in my agreement with you, I will do to you just like you did to the calves that you cut in half to show that you would surely do what you solemnly promised that you would do. I will [enable your enemies to] cut you into pieces, you officials of Judah and you officials of Jerusalem, and you officials in the palace, and you priests and all you common people. I will do that because you have disregarded what you solemnly promised [about freeing your slaves].

19 Principes Iuda et principes Ierusalem, eunuchi et sacerdotes, et omnis populus terræ, qui transierunt inter divisiones vituli:

20 Et dabo eos in manus inimicorum suorum, et in manus quærentium animam eorum: et erit morticinum eorum in escam volatilibus cæli, et bestiis terræ.

I will enable your enemies to capture you, and they will kill you. And your bodies will be food for vultures and wild animals.

21 Et Sedeciam regem Iuda, et principes eius dabo in manus inimicorum suorum, et in manus quærentium animas eorum, et in manus exercituum regis Babylonis, qui recesserunt a vobis.

I will enable the army of the king of Babylon to capture King Zedekiah and his officials. Although the king of Babylon and his army have left Jerusalem [for a short time],

22 Ecce ego præcipio, dicit Dominus, et reducam eos in civitatem hanc, et præliabuntur adversus eam, et capient eam, et incendent igni: et civitates Iuda dabo in solitudinem, eo quod non sit habitator.

I will summon them back again. [This time], they will fight against this city and capture it and burn it down. I will make [sure] that all the towns in Judah are destroyed, [with the result that] no one will live there [any more].’”