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.
Etokolo lya Sedekia
1 Nebukadnezzar, omukwaniilwa gwaBabilon, okwa kwaniileke Sedekia yaJosia peha lyaJehoiakin yaJehoiakim. 2 Ihe Sedekia, omalenga ge nenge oshigwana inashi vulika koohapu dhOmuwa ndhoka e dhi lombwele ndje.
3 Omukwaniilwa Sedekia okwa tumu Jukal yaShelemia nomuyambi Sefania yaMaaseia, ya indile ndje, ndi galikanene oshigwana shetu kOmuwa Kalunga ketu. 4 Onda li inaandi tulwa manga mondjedhililo nonda li tandi vulu okwiinyenga nemanguluko mokati kaantu. 5 Etangakwiita lyaBabilonia olya li lya kondeke Jerusalem, ihe sho lya kundana kutya etangakwiita lyaEgipiti olya tokola ongamba yaEgipiti, olye etha ekondeka.
6 Nena Omuwa, Kalunga kaIsrael, okwa lombwele ndje, 7 ndi ka lombwele Sedekia ndi tye: “Etangakwiita lyaEgipiti oli li mondjila tali ya li mu kwathe, ihe otali ka shuna. 8 Aababilonia otaa galuka, otaa ponokele oshilando, otaye shi kwata po e taye shi fike po. 9 Ongame, Omuwa, tandi mu londodha, mwaa ifundjaleke mu dhiladhile kutya Aababilonia itaa galuka we, oshoka otaa ke ya. 10 Nokuli nando mu sinde etangakwiita alihe lyaBabilon, pu hupe oomwahe dhowala dha lala momatsali gadho, otadhi ka penduka po e tadhi fike po oshilando shika.”
Jeremia ta kwatwa
11 Etangakwiita lyaBabilonia olya zi po puJerusalem, oshoka etangakwiita lyaEgipiti olya li tali hedha kulyo. 12 Onda zi muJerusalem, ndi ye koshikandjo shaBenjamin ndi ka taambe uuthiga, oshitendelwa shandje sheyana shomezimo. 13 Ihe sho nda thiki posheelo shaBenjamin, omukuluntu gwaalangeli, edhina lye Jirija yaShelemia, omutekulu gwaHanania, okwa kankeke ndje e ta ti: “Ngoye oto iyakele kAababilonia!”
14 Onda yamukula nda ti: “Hasho sho! Itandi iyaka.” Ihe Jirija ina hala okupulakena ndje. Okwa kwata ndje e ta fala ndje komalenga. 15 Oga geele ndje noonkondo, oga dhengitha ndje noge edhilile ndje mongulu yamushangampangu Jonatan. Ongulu ye oya li ya shitukithwa ondjedhililo. 16 Onda tulwa melambo nonda kala mo olule.
17 Omukwaniilwa Sedekia okwa tumu ihe, ndi ye kuye muuwa, e ta pula ndje ongumitila ta ti: “Inaku za elaka lyasha kOmuwa?”
Onda yamukula nda ti: “Okwa za, ngoye oto ka gandjwa miikaha yomukwaniilwa gwaBabilon.” 18 Onda pula nda ti: “Onda yono ano shike kungoye nenge komalenga goye nenge koshigwana, sho wa tula ndje mondjedhililo? 19 Aahunganeki yeni mboka ye mu lombwele kutya Aababilonia itaye mu homona, nenge ya homone oshilongo shika, oya ningwa ngiini? 20 Nkeyama, otandi ku galikana, u pulakene ndje ngoye u ninge shoka tandi ku pula nda gwaya evi, ino shuna ndje we maandja Jonatan. Ngele oto shi ningi, otandi ka sila mo shili.”
21 Osho ngaaka omukwaniilwa u utha, ndi edhililwe molugumbo lwomalangelo muuwa, nonda li handi pewa oshipambu shoshikwiila esiku kehe sha zi mombeka, sigo iikwiila ayihe ya pu po thilu moshilando.
