Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
1 King Nebuchadnezzar 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:
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, his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrew 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 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 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.
Sedekiab ǃoa hâ ǂhôas
1 Mîs ǃKhūb dis ge Jeremiaba ge hāba, Babilons gao-aob Nebukadnesari ge ǁîb di toroǂnubis hoaragas tsî ǃhūbaib gaosidi ǁîb ǃnaka hâdi hoadi tsî ǁaedi tsîn ǀkha Jerusalems tsî ǁîs ǀgūse ǂnôa ǃādi ǃoagu torodī ǁaeb ai. 2 “Nētib ge ǃKhūb Israeli di Eloba ra mî: ǃGû, î Judab gao-aob Sedekiaba sī mîba: Tita ǃKhūta ge nē ǃāsa Babilons gao-aob ǃomǁae nî māǁnâ, tsîb ge ǁîba ǁîsa nî khauǃkhū. 3 Sadu ge ǁîba xu ûiǂoa tide, xawe ǃkhōhe tsî ǁîba nî māǁnâhe tsîts ge ǁîb ǀkha aisa xu ais ǁga mûgu tsî ǁîb ǀkha nî ǃhoa, ǁnās khaoǃgâts ge Babilons ǃoa nî ǃgû. 4 Xawe ǃKhūb di mîsa ǁnâu re, Judab gao-aots Sedekiatse. Sats ge torob ǃnâ ǁō tide. 5 Sats ge ǂkhîb ǃnâ nî ǁō tsîn ge khoena sa aboxagu, sa aiǃâ ge hâ i gao-aogan gere ǀanǀanba khami sats tsîna nî ǀanǀanba tsîn ge sats tsîna āba tsî ‘Ae sida gao-aotse’ ti nî mî. Tita ǃKhūta ge ti go mî.”
6 ǁNās khaoǃgâb ge kēbo-aob Jeremiaba nē mîdi hoade Judab gao-aob Sedekiaba Jerusalems ǃnâ sī ge mîba, 7 Babilons gao-aob Jerusalems ǃoagu tsî ǃgau hâ omǂnamisa ǃāra Judab dira, Lakis tsî Asekas tsîra ǃoagu ra ǃkham hîa.
Khobon hâǃnâ ǃgomsigu
8 ǃKhūb di mîs Jeremiaba ge hābas, gao-aob Sedekiab ge Jerusalems di ǁanǂgāsaben hoan ǀkha ǃgaeǀhaosa dī ǃnubai, ǁîn di ǃnoraǃnorahes ǂama, 9 î-i mâ-i hoa-e ǁî-i Hebreǁî khobo-e, aoreb kas, tares kas hoasa ǃnora kai, î-i tā ǀgui-i tsîna ǁî-i Jodeǁî ǃgâsa-e khobose ūhâ. 10 O gu ge ǂgaeǂgui-aogu hoagu tsî hoaraga ǁaes, nē ǃgaeǀhaos, mâ-i hoa-i ǁî-i khobo-e nî ǃnoraǃnoras dis ǃnâ ge amǃnâxan hoana nēsa ǁnâuǀnam tsî ǁîna ge ǃnora kai. 11 Xawen ge ǁnās khaoǃgâ ǂâi-oa tsî ǁîn di khobogu tsî khobodi hîan ge ǃnora kaina ū-oa tsî ǁkhawa ge khobodī.
12 Mîs ǃKhūb dis ge Jeremiaba ge hāba: 13 “Nētib ge ǃKhūb Israeli di Eloba ra mî: Tita ge sa aboxan ǀkha ǃgaeǀhao-e ge dī, ǁîna ta ge Egipteba xu, khobosis omma xu ǂgaeǂguiǂui ǃnubai, tsî ge mî. 14 ‘Mâ hûǁî kurib hoabats ge sa Hebreǁî ǃgâsa-i, sats ai ǁamaxūhe tsî ǃnani kuriga ǃoaba tsi hâ-i hoa-e nî ǃnora kai.’ Xawen ge sa aboxana tita ǃgaoǃgâ tamas ka io tita ǃgâ tama ge i. 15 Sadu ge ǀgūǁae ǂâi-oa tsî ti mûǁae a ǃgâina goro dī, sadu ǀgūkhoena ǃnora kais ǀkha. Tsî du ge ǃgaeǀhao-e, ti ǀons ǃoa ǂgaihe hâ ommi ǃnâ ge dī. 16 Xawe du ge ǁkhawa unusen tsî ti ǀonsa ge ǃanuoǃnâ kai, mâ-i hoa-i âdu ge ǁî-i khobob tsî khobos, hîan ge ǁîn ǂâis ǃoa ǃnora kai hâ ina ǁkhawa sadu khobose ū-oa ǃkhais ǀkha. 17 ǁNā-amagab ge ǃKhūba ra mî: Sadu ge tita ǃgâ tama i tsî mâ-i hoa-i âdo ǁî-i ǃgâsa-i tsî ǀgūkhoe-e ǃnorasasiba ǁapoǁapoba tama ge i. ǁNā-amaga ta ge tita sado ǃnorasasib gôab tsî ǂhīǁōb tsî ǃâtsūǀkhāb diba ra ǁapoǁapoba,”
tib ge ǃKhūba ra mî.“Tita ge sado ǃhūbaib di gaosidi hoadi ǃnâ ǃaoǃaoxūse nî dī. 18 Tsî ta ge ǁnā aogu ti ǃgaeǀhaosa ge ǃûǂam tsî ti ǃgaeǀhaos, ti ais aiǃâ gu ge dīs di mîde ǃkhōǀgaipe tama iga, tsâub hîa du ǀgam ǃâkha ǃnâ ǃgaoǃā tsî ǁîkha ǁaegu ra ǃgûǃkharub khami nî dī. 19 Judab tsî Jerusalems di ǂamkhoegu, gao-ommi di ǂamkhoegu, pristergu tsî hoaraga ǁaes ǃhūb dis tsîn, ǁnā ǃâkha tsâub dikha ǁaegu ra ǃkharun, 20 ǁîna ta ge ǁîn khākhoen di ǃomǁae tsî ǁnān, ǁîn ûiba ra ôan ǃomǁae nî māǁnâ. ǁÎn di sorodi ge ǀhomanin tsî ǀgurun tsîna ǂûse nî ība. 21 Tsî Judab di gao-aob Sedekiab tsî ǁîb ǂamkhoegu tsîga ta ge ǁîgu khākhoen ǃomǁae tsî ǁnān, ǁîgu ûiba ra ôan ǃomǁae nî māǁnâ, Babilons gao-aob di toroǂnubis, sado xu ge ǂgae-oasens di ǃomǁae. 22 Tita ge mîmā tsî ǁîna nē ǃās ǁga ǁkhawa nî oaǀkhī-ū, tsîn ge ǁîs ǃoagu ǃkham, ǁîsa ū tsî nî khauǃkhū. Tita ge Judab di ǃāde nî ǃū-aisa kai, khoe-i xare-i ǁîde ǁanǃnâ tamase”
tib ge ǃKhūba ra mî.