Zedekiah's Request to Jeremiah
1 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia made Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah in the place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2 But neither Zedekiah nor his officials nor the people obeyed the message which the Lord had given me.
3 King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to ask me to pray to the Lord our God on behalf of our nation. 4 I had not yet been put in prison and was still moving about freely among the people. 5 The Babylonian army had been besieging Jerusalem, but when they heard that the Egyptian army had crossed the Egyptian border, they retreated.
6 Then the Lord, the God of Israel, told me 7 to say to Zedekiah, “The Egyptian army is on its way to help you, but it will return home. 8 Then the Babylonians will come back, attack the city, capture it, and burn it down. 9 I, the Lord, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians will not come back, because they will. 10 Even if you defeat the whole Babylonian army, so that only wounded men are left, lying in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city to the ground.”
Jeremiah Is Arrested and Imprisoned
11 The Babylonian army retreated from Jerusalem because the Egyptian army was approaching. 12 So I started to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of my share of the family property. 13 But when I reached the Benjamin Gate, the officer in charge of the soldiers on duty there, a man by the name of Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah, stopped me and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
14 I answered, “That's not so! I'm not deserting.” But Irijah would not listen to me. Instead, he arrested me and took me to the officials. 15 They were furious with me and had me beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan, the court secretary, whose house had been made into a prison. 16 I was put in an underground cell and kept there a long time.
17 Later on King Zedekiah sent for me, and there in the palace he asked me privately, “Is there any message from the Lord?”
“There is,” I answered, and added, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylonia.” 18 Then I asked, “What crime have I committed against you or your officials or this people, to make you put me in prison? 19 What happened to your prophets who told you that the king of Babylonia would not attack you or the country? 20 And now, Your Majesty, I beg you to listen to me and do what I ask. Please do not send me back to the prison in Jonathan's house. If you do, I will surely die there.”
21 So King Zedekiah ordered me to be locked up in the palace courtyard. I stayed there, and each day I was given a loaf of bread from the bakeries until all the bread in the city was gone.
Jeremia ta dengwa ndele ta kwatwa Ohamba tai mu popile meholeko
1 Ndele Sedekia yaJosia okwa ninga ohamba ponhele yaKonja yaJehoiakim, ngaashi Nebukadnesar, ohamba yaBabilon, e mu nangeka mouhamba woshilongo shaJuda. 2 Ndelenee ye mwene nomalenga aye novanhu vomoshilongo inava pwilikina eendjovo dOmwene e di lombwelifa omuxunganeki Jeremia.
3 Ohamba Sedekia okwa tuma Jukal yaSelemja nomupristeli Sefania yaMaasea komuxunganeki Jeremia ndele ta ti: Tu ilikanena Omwene Kalunga ketu. 4 Mefimbo olo Jeremia okwa li ha endaenda mokati kovanhu, ye ina idililwa natango modolongo. 5 Noita yaFarao ya dja muEgipiti, nOvakaldea ava va kondeka Jerusalem, eshi ve i uda, ova fiya po Jerusalem. 6 Opo nee ondjovo yOmwene ya hanga omuxunganeki Jeremia tai ti: 7 Omwene Kalunga kaIsrael ota ti ngaha: Lombweleni hano ohamba yaJuda, oyo ye mu tuma kwaame mu pule nge, mu tye: Tala, oita yaFarao, ya dile kedu lavo oku mu kwafa, otai ka shuna kedu laye, Egipiti, 8 nOvakaldea otava ka aluka ndele tava te oshilando eshi ndele tave shi xwike po nomundilo. 9 Osho Omwene ta ti: “Inamu lifufya, eshi tamu ti: Ovakaldea otave tu efa tava di po. Osheshi vo itava ka dja po. 10 Osheshi oita ei yOvakaldea tai mu lwifa nande mu va te, ndele tapa xupu vamwevamwe aveke va yashwa meenhanda davo, opo nee vo otava fikama ndele tava xwike po oshilando eshi.”
11 Ndelenee oita yOvakaldea eshi ya dja po omolwoita yaFarao, ndele va efa okulwifa Jerusalem, 12 Jeremia okwa li a hala okufiya po Jerusalem a ye koshilongo shaBenjamin, a ka tambule ko oshitukulwa shefyuululo lepata omokati kovanhu. 13 Eshi a fika koshivelo shaBenjamin okwa hanga ko omukeleli edina laye Jiiria yaSelemja yaHanania. Ye okwa kwata omuxunganeki Jeremia nokwe mu lombwela ta ti: Ove owa hala okwaama kOvakaldea. 14 Ndelenee Jeremia okwa tya: Oipupulu! Ame inandi hala okwaama kOvakaldea. Ndelenee ye ine mu pwilikina. Jiiria okwa kwata Jeremia nokwe mu twala kovakulunhu. 15 Ndele ovakulunhu ova handuka nokuhandukilila Jeremia ndele ve mu denga nove mu idilila modolongo, mongulu yomushangi womouhamba Jonatan, osheshi ove i tunga odolongo. 16 Opo nee Jeremia eshi a kala modolongo mekololo lomeni, naashi a diininwa mo omafiku mahapu, 17 ohamba Sedekia okwa tuma ko ndele te mu ifana. Ohamba oye mu pula mongulu yayo meholeko ndele tai ti: “Ope neendjovo dOmwene?” Jeremia okwa tya: “Heeno, ope na, nokwa tya: Ove oto ka yandjwa momake ohamba yaBabilon.” 18 Jeremia okwa tya vali kohamba Sedekia ndele ta ti: “Ame onda nyona shike kwoove nokovapiya voye nokovanhu ava, eshi mwa idilila nge modolongo? 19 Ndele ovaxunganeki veni ove mu xunganekela va tya: ‘Ohamba yaBabilon itai uya kunye nokoshilongo sheni,’ ove li peni? 20 Hano paife omwene wange, ohamba, pwilikina! Eindilo lange nali fike koshipala shoye, ino shunifa nge vali mongulu yaJonatan, omushangi, opo ndiha file mo.” 21 Opo nee ohamba Sedekia okwa lombwela, Jeremia na diininwe moluumbo lodolongo ndele na pewe omungome umwe keshe efiku, u ka talwe kepandavanda lovateleki vomingome, fiyo omingome adishe domoshilando da pwa po. Osho ngaha Jeremia a kala moluumbo lodolongo.
