Jeremias 37
1 Og Sedekias, Josias' sønn, blev konge efter Konja, Jojakims sønn for Babels konge Nebukadnesar hadde satt ham til konge i Juda land.
After Jehoiakim died, [his son Jehoiachin became king for only three months, after which] King Josiah’s son Zedekiah became the King of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, appointed him to be the new king.
2 Men han og hans tjenere og landets folk hørte ikke på Herrens ord, som han talte ved profeten Jeremias.
But King Zedekiah and his palace officials and the other people in the land paid no attention to the messages that Yahweh gave me.
3 Og kong Sedekias sendte Jehukal, Selemjas sønn, og presten Sefanja, Ma'asejas sønn, til profeten Jeremias og lot si: Bed for oss til Herren vår Gud!
However, [one day] King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, who was the son of Maaseiah, to me. They requested me to pray to Yahweh our God for our [nation].
4 Jeremias gikk dengang inn og ut blandt folket; de hadde ennu ikke satt ham i fengsel.
At that time I had not yet been put in prison, so I could come and go wherever and whenever I wanted to, [without being hindered].
5 Og Faraos hær hadde da draget ut fra Egypten, og da kaldeerne, som holdt Jerusalem kringsatt, spurte det, drog de bort fra Jerusalem.
[At that time], the army of [Hophra], the King of Egypt, came [to the southern border of Judah]. When the army of Babylonia heard about that, they stopped surrounding Jerusalem and left there [to fight against the army from Egypt].
6 Da kom Herrens ord til profeten Jeremias, og det lød så:
Then Yahweh gave this message to me:
7 Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Så skal I si til Judas konge, som sendte eder til mig for å spørre mig: Se, Faraos hær, som har draget ut for å komme eder til hjelp, skal vende tilbake til sitt land, Egypten,
“[I], Yahweh, the God whom [you] Israelis [say you belong to], say this: ‘The King of Judah has sent [messengers] to you to ask me [what is going to happen]. Tell the king that even though the army of the King of Egypt came to help him, they are about to return to Egypt.
8 og kaldeerne skal komme igjen og stride mot denne by, og de skal innta den og brenne den op med ild.
Then the army of Babylonia will return here and capture this city and burn everything in it.’
9 Så sier Herren: I må ikke dåre eder selv og si: Kaldeerne skal visselig dra bort fra oss! For de skal ikke dra bort;
[So], this is what I say [to you Israelis]: ‘You should not deceive yourselves, thinking that the army from Babylonia has gone and will not return. That is not true.
10 om I så slo hele kaldeernes hær som strider mot eder, og det bare blev nogen hårdt sårede tilbake iblandt dem, så skulde disse stå op, hver i sitt telt, og brenne denne by op med ild.
And even if your soldiers could destroy almost all of the soldiers from Babylonia who are attacking you, and allow only a few of them who were wounded to remain alive in their tents, they would come out [of their tents] and burn this city completely!”’”
11 Og da kaldeernes hær hadde draget bort fra Jerusalem for Faraos hærs skyld,
When the army from Babylonia left Jerusalem because the army from Egypt was approaching,
12 da gikk Jeremias ut av Jerusalem midt iblandt folket for å gå til Benjamins land og hente sin arvelodd derfra.
I started to leave the city. I intended to go to the area [where the descendants of] Benjamin live, in order to take possession of my share of the property from my family.
13 Og da han var i Benjamin-porten, så stod der en høvedsmann for vakten ved navn Jerija, sønn av Selemja, sønn av Hananja; han grep fatt i profeten Jeremias og sa: Du vil gå over til kaldeerne.
But as I was walking out the Benjamin Gate, a guard seized me and said, “You are deserting [us and going] to [the soldiers from] Babylonia!” The man who seized me was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah.
14 Da sa Jeremias: Det er løgn; jeg vil ikke gå over til kaldeerne. Men Jerija hørte ikke på Jeremias, han grep ham og førte ham til høvdingene.
But I [protested and] said, “That is not true! I was not intending to do that!” But Irijah would not pay attention to what I said. He took me to the [king’s] officials.
15 Da blev høvdingene vrede på Jeremias og slo ham, og de satte ham i fangehuset, i statsskriveren Jonatans hus; for det hadde de gjort til fengsel.
They were very angry with me. They [commanded the guards to] beat me and [then to] put me in the house where Jonathan the king’s secretary stayed. They had changed Jonathan’s house to make it become a prison.
16 Da Jeremias var kommet i fangehullet, i kjelleren, og hadde sittet der i mange dager,
They put me in a dungeon/cell in that prison, and I remained there for several days.
17 sendte kong Sedekias bud og lot ham hente, og kongen spurte ham i sitt hus i lønndom og sa: Er det noget ord fra Herren? Jeremias svarte: Ja, det er. Og så sa han: Du skal bli gitt i Babels konges hånd.
Then King Zedekiah secretly sent a servant to me, who took me to the palace. There the king asked me, “Do you have any messages from Yahweh?” I replied, “Yes, [the message is that] you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
18 Derefter sa Jeremias til kong Sedekias: Hvad har jeg syndet mot dig og dine tjenere og dette folk, siden I har satt mig i fengsel?
Then I asked the king, “What crime have I committed [RHQ] against you or against your officials or against the Israeli people, with the result that you have [commanded that] I be put in a prison?
19 Og hvor er nu eders profeter, de som profeterte for eder og sa: Babels konge skal ikke komme over eder og over dette land?
Your prophets predicted that the army of the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land. Why were [RHQ] [their messages] not fulfilled?
20 Og hør nu, herre konge! La min ydmyke bønn bæres frem for ditt åsyn og send mig ikke tilbake til statsskriveren Jonatans hus, forat jeg ikke skal dø der!
Your majesty, I plead with you to listen to me. Do not send me back to the dungeon/cell in the house of Jonathan your secretary, because [if you do that, ] I will die there.”
21 På kong Sedekias' bud holdt de Jeremias i varetekt i vaktgården og gav ham et brød til hver dag fra bakernes gate, inntil alt brødet i byen var fortært. Og Jeremias blev sittende i vaktgården.
So King Zedekiah commanded that [I not be sent back to the prison cell. Instead, ] I was allowed to be watched by the guards in the courtyard [of the palace]. [The king] also [commanded that they should] bring me a loaf of fresh bread every day, until there was no bread left in the city. So [they put me] in that courtyard and I remained there.
